G2FT  OF 


I 


\ 


SIR    RABINDRA    NATH    TAGORE. 


INDIA'S 
NATION   BUILDERS 


BY 

D.    N.    BANNERJEA 

. 


BRENTANO'S  : 

FIFTH   AVENUE    &    27™    STREET, 
NEW   YORK   CITY. 


\ 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE. 

IT  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  undertake  the  present 
task,  in  compliance  with  the  request  to  write  short  but 
reasonably  complete  narratives  of  Indians  that  have 
served  as  pathfinders  in  the  difficult  work  of  nation- 
building  in  India.  But  delightful  in  itself  though  the 
writing  of  the  book  has  been,  it  has  not  been  quite  so 
easy  as  one  might  have  expected,  by  reason  of  the 
paucity  of  reliable  material,  or  difficulties  in  having 
access  to  such  material  as  is  actually  obtainable. 
There  is  an  abundance  of  books  that  may  be  used 
as  running  commentaries  on  the  various  movements 
in  India,  social  as  well  as  political,  but  there  is 
unfortunately,  a  regrettable  dearth  of  authentic 
biographies  from  which  one  might  glean  salient  facts, 
dates  or  leading  episodes  in  the  careers  of  great  men. 

It  is  with  a  view  of  filling  such  gaps  that  the 
present  modest  attempt  is  made.  But  our  obj  ect  has 
not  been  so  much  to  chronicle  bare  incidents  as  to 
strive  to  reveal  the  personality  of  the  man  whose 
contribution  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  liberalising 
movements  in  India  comes  under  review.  How  far 
such  attempts  have  been  successful,  we  leave  it  to 
the  readers  to  judge. 

In  the  case  of  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  Tagore,  we  have 
deliberately  abstained  from  recording  the  personal 


434590 


6  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

incidents  of  his  earlier  life,  since  these  have  been  so 
graphically  described  for  us,  by  the  poet  himself 
in  "  My  Reminiscences  "*  and  also  since  his 
personality  and  the  fruition  of  his  creative  genius 
in  the  realm  of  Art  and  Literature  have  a  more 
permanent  interest  than  the  details  of  his  academic 
and  poetic  life.  In  any  case  his  spiritual  vision  and 
the  subtle  and  attractive  garb  with  which  he  clothes 
the  commonest  of  sentiments  are  the  most  out- 
standing features  of  the  poet's  entire  career. 
Similarly  in  the  cases  of  one  or  two  others  who, 
after  a  short-lived  and  strenuous  activity  in  their 
respective  spheres  have  since  retired,  for  various 
reasons,  from  public  life/  we  have  avoided  going 
into  personal  incidents. 

The  writer  is  in  the  fullest  sympathy  with  the 
aspirations  of  his  educated  countrymen  and  with 
their  demand  that  a  substantial  measure  of  self- 
government  must  be  given  to  India  immediately, 
in  so  far  as  it  is  compatible  with  the  security  and 
stability  of  the  Empire  as  a  whole.  And  it  is  the 
writer's  firm  conviction  that  a  genuine  concession  to 
this  demand,  here  and  now,  would  strengthen  the 
bonds  between  England  and  India,  and  that 
eventual  fullest  autonomy  within  the  Empire  would 
leave  the  destinies  of  India  and  the  mother  country 
indissolubly  linked. 

The  author  desires,  however,  to  repudiate  all 
methods  of  agitation  that  are  not  strictly  con- 
stitutional, and  to  dissociate  himself  from  any 
propaganda  that  exploits  race-hatred  to  promote  its 

*  Macmillan  and  Co.,  London,  73.  6d. 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE  7 

ends.  We  sincerely  feel  that  religious,  social  and 
political  reform  must  go  hand  in  hand,  so  that  the 
prevailing  anomalies  in  the  Indian  communities  may 
not  furnish  a  handle  for  the  reactionary  obstruction 
of  the  bureaucracy  in  India,  nor  that  indifference  to 
the  demands  of  India's  social  emancipation  may 
accentuate  the  revolutionary  destruction  of  certain 
misguided  idealists.  There  must  be  an  advance 
towards  the  goal,  through  all  the  various  avenues  of 
approach. 

Though  the  main  ideas  and  opinions  expressed  in 
the  book  are  my  own,  I  take  this  opportunity  to  say 
that  the  study  of  "  The  Renaissance  in  India,"  by 
the  Rev.  C.  F.  Andrews,  first  aroused  my  interest 
in  the  study  of  Indian  problems.  This  gifted 
writer  surveyed  the  modern  situation  in  India  from 
the  point  of  view  of  missionary  activity  :  I  have 
tried  to  review  the  modern  developments  in  India 
in  close  association  with  their  founders,  in  the  light 
of  their  bearing  on  the  birth  and  the  gradual  con- 
solidation of  the  National  Idea,  as  the  result  of 
the  West  meeting  the  East. 

I  express  my  thanks  to  the  authorities  of  the 
British  Museum  for  affording  me  every  facility  for 
getting  at  original  documents,  periodicals  and  books 
in  general. 

My  thanks  are  likewise  due  to  Colonel  Josiah  C. 
Wedgwood,  M.P.,  for  always  assisting  me  with  advice 
and  suggestions  in  my  literary  ventures,  and  to  the 
Rt.  Hon.  H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  the  President  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  for  his  inspiring  glimpses  into 
the  character  and  life-work  of  the  late  Mr.  G.  K. 


8  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

Gokhale.  His  appreciation  of  Mr.  Gokhale's  life- 
work  enhanced  my  admiration  for  the  noble  Indian 
patriot,  and  particularly  as  Mr.  Fisher's  appreciation 
had  behind  it  the  weight  and  authority  of  a  famous 
scholar,  and  one  of  the  foremost  educationalists 
now  engaged  in  revolutionising  the  conditions  of 
education  in  this  country. 

I  should  finally  express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  A.  G. 
Gardiner,  of  The  Daily  News  and  Mr.  J.  A.  Spender, 
of  The  Westminster  Gazette,  for  always  encouraging 
the  interpretation  of  Indian  ideals  and  aspirations, 
with  a  view  to  the  education  of  public  opinion  in  this 
country. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION        -  -  -          -  -  -  II 

V.     I.  SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  -  -  21 

II.  RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  40 

III.  KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  53 

IV.  SWAMI   DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  70 
V.  SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  95 

VI.  DADABHOY  NAOROJI      -  1 15 

VII.  SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  -        128 

•.     VIII.  GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  -         146 

IX.  M.  K.  GANDHI         -  -         164 

X.  KALI  CHARAN  BANURJI  -         174 

XI.  BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  -         l8l 

XII.  BEPIN   CHANDRA   PAL  -         197 

•"-XIII.  ARABINDA   GHOSE  -        206 

L>  XIV.  iALA   LAJPAT   RAI  -        213 

XV.  SURENDRA   NATH   BANNERJEA         -  225 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  writer  offers  no  apology,  since  none  is  needed,  for 
selecting  the  present  moment  as  opportune  for  the 
presentation  to  the  public,  British  as  well  as  Indian, 
of  the  following  character-sketches  of  eminent 
Indians  that  have  figured,  more  or  less  conspicuously, 
as  pioneers  of  movements  which  have  taken  their 
rise  in,  and  contributed  towards  the  making  of, 
modern  India.  It  will  be  obvious  to  the  reader  that 
New  India  presents  rather  a  perplexing  develop- 
ment, in  which  the  old  order  and  the  new  are  at  close 
grips,  victory  being  assured  to  the  new,  however 
painfully  slow  may  seem  the  movement  towards  the 
triumph  of  the  progressive  forces. 

Discriminating  critics  may  regret  the  absence  of 
names  from  these  essays  of  Ranade,  Sir  Subrahmania 
Aiyar  and  Sir  Krishna  Nair,  at  present  Minister  for 
Education  in  India.  But  the  distinguished  services 
to  India  rendered  by  these  great  men  are  to  be 
dealt  with,  it  is  hoped,  in  another  volume,  and  in  a 
somewhat  different  connection.  For  a  similar  reason 
we  have  refrained  from  including  in  the  following 
chapters,  narratives  of  the  illustrious  careers  of 
sympathetic  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen  who 
have  disinterestedly  promoted  the  cause  of  India's 
political  emancipation.  Among  names  that  are 


12  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

enshrined  in  Indian  hearts  stand  out  those  of 
Allan  Octavian  Hume,  Sir  Henry  Cotton  and  the 
late  Sir  William  Wedderburn,  as  bright  shining 
lights  on  the  Indian  political  horizon.  We  have 
been,  in  the  main,  concerned  with  the  working  of 
certain  progressive  forces  in  India,  forces  that  are 
mainly  the  result  of  western  education  impinging  on 
a  rich  heritage  of  indigenous  ideals. 

The  writer  strongly  feels  that  because  of  the  great 
world-war,  the  idea  of  nationality,  always  sacred 
and  inspiring  has  somehow  been  thrust  into  the  fore- 
ground of  political  thought.  It  was  thus  evident 
that  people's  minds  would  be  naturally  more  receptive 
of  the  imperative  claims  of  "  India  :  a  Nation  " 
than  ever  before.  What  the  flower  of  the  Allied 
democracy  are  to-day  fighting  and  dying  for,  Indian 
progressives  and  reformers  are  living  for  :  to  vindi- 
cate, that  is  to  say,  the  principle  of  nationality,  to 
assert  the  national  idea  and  to  demonstrate  the 
inherent  right  of  all  nations,  great  or  small,  to  work 
out  their  own  destinies,  untrammelled  by  the  vested 
interests  of  bureaucracies  or  military  oligarchies. 

The  series  begins  with  the  chapter  on  Sir  Rabrindra 
Nath  Tag  ore,  not  because  he  is  the  earliest  pioneer 
of  modern  India,  but  because  he  is  to-day  best  known 
in  contemporary  England,  not  to  speak  of  Europe 
and  America.  We  have  not  dealt  with  the  various 
"  nation- builders "  throughout,  in  anything  like 
chronological  sequence,  but  mainly  on  a  rough  esti- 
mate of  their  influence  on  Indian  life  generally.  But 
broadly  speaking,  the  order  of  treatment  has  been  a 
purely  convenient  arrangement,  and  no  invidious 


INTRODUCTION  13 

distinctions  should  be  inferred  from  priority  of 
position. 

It  was  also  felt  that  something  must  be  done 
to  remove  the  impression,  the  very  misleading  and 
erroneous  impression,  that  Indian  leaders  have  been, 
and  are,  impervious  to  modernist  tendencies  and 
oblivious  to  the  numerous  evils  that  lurk  in  the 
Indian  body-politic.  None  is  more  merciless  in 
denunciation  of  social  and  other  evils  than  the 
Indian  reformers  themselves  ;  none  so  unsparing  in 
critical  judgment  as  they.  That  India  must  set  her 
house  in  order,  and  apply  the  surgeon's  knife  to  the 
cankerous  growths  that  she  has  so  far  encouraged 
in  her  civic  and  communal  life  is  the  constant 
burden  of  their  teaching.  From  Ram  Mohan  to 
Tagore,  from  Syed  Ahmad  Khan  to  Ranade,  they 
have  never  ceased  from  criticising  the  evils — the 
serious  and  fundamental  evils — that  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Indian  character  and  mentality,  precisely  as 
English  reformers  and  French,  too,  have  ever 
striven  to  remedy  the  evils  that  hamper  the  growth 
of  the  nation's  life,  and  have  considered  it  a  duty 
to  expose  the  evils  that  were  sapping  its  vitality. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  strongly  feel  that  Mr. 
William  Archejr  could  scarcely  have  chosen  a  more 
ill-starred  moment  than  the  present  for  a  wholesale 
disparagment  of  Indian  publicists,  and  a  scathing 
indictment  of  the  Indian  tradition  in  its  entirety, 
in  his  recently  published  book  :  "  India  and  the 
Future."  Not  that  we  are  afraid  of  criticism.  We 
sincerely  feel  that  India's  best  friends  are  those  that 
lay  their  fingers  on  her  festering  sores.  The  fault,  if 


14  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

any,  that  we  have  to  find  with  Mr.  Archer  is  not  that 
he  is  critical,  but  that  his  criticisms  betray  lack  of 
judgment,  of  the  historical  conscience,  and  full 
knowledge  of  India's  past  and  present.  We  are 
reluctantly  driven  to  confess  that  the  learned 
journalist's  sole  knowledge  concerning  India  consists 
of  a  bundle  of  impressions,  gleaned  from  ignorant 
and  hostile  sources,  and  capped  with  "  the  high 
authority  of  Lord  Sydenham  of  Combe."  By  the 
way,  the  only  other  statesman  in  the  Empire  that 
Mr.  Archer  did  not  consult  while  writing  his  book  is 
Lord  Milner.  But  to  pass  on. 

We  are  in  the  heartiest  agreement  with  the  learned 
author's  dictum  that  those"  Hinduisers  "  in  the  West 
who  exaggerate  everything  Indian  that  is  good,  and 
allegorise  away  everything  Indian  that  is  repulsive, 
morbid,  retrogressive,  render  India  doubtful  service. 
So  far,  so  good.  But  we  strongly  question,  not  Mr. 
Archer's  sincerity,  but  the  propriety  of  his  method 
in  making  the  pendulum  swing  to  the  other  extreme. 
With  due  respect  to  him,  we  beg  leave  to  remind  Mr. 
Archer  that  in  his  eagerness  to  break  a  lance  or  two 
with  Orientalists  and  others,  he  seems  to  have  quite 
forgotten  all  about  the  scantiness  of  the  material  at 
his  disposal.  While  passing  judgment  on  the  religious 
scriptures  of  India,  he  incidentally  forgets  that 
progressive  Hinduism  does  not  depend  on  verses  from 
the  Vedas,  and,  further,  he  leans  upon  the  broken 
reed  of  opinion  proceeding  from  unfriendly  quarters. 
It  was  hardly  necessary  to  quote  Max  Miiller,  the 
great  orientalist  and  friend  of  India,  and  labour  the 
point  that  there  are  inchoate  and  inconsistent  texts 

. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

in  the  Hindu  scriptures,  since  Hinduism  is  a  con- 
tinuity and  not  a  hidebound  ecclesiastical  system. 
In  its  lower  developments,  Hinduism  presents  hideous 
features  ;  the  tyranny  of  the  priest,  of  caste  and 
repressive  doctrine,  but  which  religion  is  perfect  in 
its  cruder  aspects  and  formulations  ? 

Mr.  Archer,  again,  lays  himself  open  to  the  very 
accusation  which  he  levels  against  young  students 
from  India,  viz.,  that  they  are  fond  of  "  extravagant 
rhetoric/  Instead  of  saying  that  the  masses  in 
India  have  not  been  educated,  and  owing  to  their 
illiteracy  are  sinking  very  low,  our  learned  contem- 
porary uses  flamboyant  phraseology  and  says : 
"  A  long  chain  of  prehistoric  and  historic  circum- 
stances, ultimately  traceable  to  geographical  con- 
ditions, has  reduced  the  masses  to  a  condition  of 
stagnant  barbarism"  (p.  26).  What  is  this,  if  not 
"  extravagant  rhetoric,"  not  even  pardonable  as  in 
the  case  of  Indian  students,  because  the  medium  of 
expression,  in  his  case,  is  his  own  mother-tongue. 
Who  is  to  blame  for  the  neglect  of  mass  education  in 
India  ?  The  masses  themselves  ?  or  "  the  classes 
reduced  to  an  even  less  desirable  state  of  inveter- 
ately  self-satisfied  pseudo-civilisation  ?  " 

But  even  the  above  attempts  at  describing 
new  India  pale  into  insignificance,  when  Mr. 
Archer,  the  journalist,  assumes  the  role  of  Pope  of 
Rome  and  prophesies — a  function  discarded  by  the 
Vatican  now-a-days — that  India  "  may  one  day 
come  to  date  the  dawn  of  her  regeneration  from  the 
Battle  of  Plassey."  For  aught  we  know,  Mr. 
Archer  is  quite  right  this  time.  In  any  case,  we 


16  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

who  are  thoroughly  loyal  to  the  Imperial  economy 
believe  that  in  the  British  connection  with  India 
is  implicit  the  guarantee  of  her  political  emanci- 
pation. Only  we  expected  that  the  learned  author 
would  consider  that  after  all  we  are  human,  and 
not  "  rub  it  in  "  sovhard.  For  example,  our  learned 
friend  would  not  go  the  length  of  telling  the  Belgians 
that  they  may  one  day  come  to  date  the  dawn  of 
their  regeneration  from  the  farfl  of  Antwerp,  sup- 
posing the  Germans  had  been  ranged  on  our  side. 
I  know — and  rejoice  to  know — that  the  analogy 
does  not  hold,  but  it  is  in  the  light  of  the 
principle  of  nationality  that  we  should  pass 
judgments  on  other  nations,  and  pay  some  heed 
to  their  sensitiveness  and  susceptibilities. 

Arrogating  to  himself  papal  infallibility,  Mr.  Archer 
lays  the  lash  upon  the  backs  of  all  Indian  publicists, 
progressive  or  reactionary,  moderate  or  extremist. 
At  one  moment  we  see  Gokhale  bleed  under  the 
crash  of  Mr.  Archer's  sjambok,  the  next  moment 
Ranade  is  laid  low.  We  hold  no  brief  for 
Ranade  when  he  asks  Indians  to  consider  them- 
selves "  God's  chosen  people."  But  Mr.  Archer 
would  be  the  first  to  consider  himself  as  one  of 
the  elect,  and  in  fact  through  his  interesting 
articles,  he  has  been  giving,  during  the  war,  able 
and  forceful  expression  to  his  patriotic  impulses, 
and  in  our  judgment  quite  properly.  But  then,  why 
should  Ranade  be  pilloried  for  expressing  his  patriotic 
instincts  ?  It  is  only  human  nature  to  cherish 
one's  traditions  and  ideals.  The  wail  of  lamen- 
tation, however,  becomes  very  deep  and  touching 


INTRODUCTION  17 

when  the  complaint  is  voiced  forth  :  '  The  wisest 
of  Indians  cannot  get  over  the  inveterate  habit  of 
admitting  in  one  breath  that  India's  past  is  her 
disaster,  and  asserting  in  the  next  that  it  is  her  glory 
and  her  pride.  The  two  propositions  are  not  abso- 
lutely irreconcilable  ;  but  the  first  alone  is  of  any 
practical  moment  (the  italics  are  ours).  If  only  the 
Indian  politician  would  cling  fast  to  that,  and  give 
up  talking  as  though  British  rule  had  involved  a 
decline  from  some  high  estate  of  splendour  and 
felicity,  he  would  do  much  to  hasten  the  advent 
of  a  bright  future"  (p.  171).  Hear,  O  heavens, 
and  give  ear,  O  earth,  for  Mr.  Archer  hath  spoken  ! 

With  such  opiate  doses  would  the  gifted  writer, 
the  exponent  of  the  newest  Imperialism,  send 
refractory  Indian  children  to  bed !  While  the 
Times  is  to-day  lavishing  unstinted  praise  on  Mr. 
Gokhale,  and  the  Round  Table  has  appreciated 
—vide  the  issue  of  December,  1917— the  points  of 
his  criticism,  Mr.  Archer  raises  his  prejudices  and 
preconceptions  to  the  perfection  of  a  science,  with  a 
view  of  demolishing  the  men  of  straw  that  his 
imagination  has  set  up. 

In  the  scheme  of  Empire  Mr.  Archer  sees  no  hope  of 
any  British  citizen  right  being  conferred  on  the  Indian 
in  the  colonies  of  the  Empire.  He  very  wisely  says 
that  it  is  best  "  for  each  race  to  keep  itself  to  itself 
and  not  seek  to  swamp  or  submerge  its  neighbours  " 
(p.  175  footnote).  And  yet  in  the  introduction  he 
recommends  that  "  steps  should  be  taken  to  make 
the  service  of  India  attractive  to  the  best  class  of 
young  Englishmen  "  (the  italics  are  ours).  Surely  if 


i8  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Empire  stands  for  anything,  it  involves  a  policy  of 
give-and-take.  According  to  Mr.  Archer,  Empire 
signifies  only  "  take,"  but  no  "  give." 

One  word  more,  and  we  have  done  with 
the  new  Goliath  that  has  risen  to  shatter  the  super- 
stitions of  India's  greatness.  In  common  with 
other  readers,  we  have  been  amused  with  the 
display  of  learning  concerning  Indian  affairs.  But 
we  shall  ask  only  two  questions  of  Mr.  Archer. 
First,  can  he  point  to  a  single  historic  instance  of  a 
nation  that  has  risen  to  great  heights  through  the 
systematic  despising  of  her  past  heritage,  as  he  would 
fain  see  done  by  the  Indians  ?  And  secondly,  if 
India's  past  is  her  disaster,  why  does  he  so  heroically 
"  go  f or  "  the  Anglo-Indians  who,  believing  in  Mr. 
Archer's  hypothesis,  carry  it  to  its  logical  con- 
clusion in  practice  ?  Surely,  Mr.  Archer  does  not 
expect  all  Anglo-Indians  to  be  artists,  and  literary 
critics  and  philanthropic  institutions  ! 

As  we  lay  down  the  very  expensive  volume  with  a 
sense  of  disappointment,  we  discover  the  secret  of 
Mr.  Archer's  trenchant  remarks.  He  says  many 
unkind  things,  because  he  is  entrenched  behind  the 
belief  that  "  eventual  self-government  "  is  good  for 
India.  He  does  not  say  when  that  millennium 
is  coming,  but  it  would  appear  some  time  before  this 
planet  becomes  unfit  for  human  habitation. 

We  quite  see  that  India  has  much  leeway  to  make 
up  before  her  sons  and  daughters  can  enter  upon  a 
richer  inheritance.  But  the  path  to  that  goal  of 
perfection,  should  perfection  be  ever  within  human 
grasp,  would  not  lie  through  excessive  self-laudation, 


INTRODUCTION  19 

much  less  through  paralysing  self -depreciation  and 
despair,  but  through  discipline  and  self-control  and 
self-reverence.  It  is  with  a  view  to  elucidating 
this  position  that  the  accompanying  essays  have  been 
written. 

To  conclude  :  nothing  could  be  more  unreasonable 
than  the  following  ipse  dixit  of  Mr.  Archer : 
"  Europe  is  struggling  out  of  the  ages  of  faith  into 
the  age  of  knowledge,  some  of  the  worst  of  its  evils 
proceed  from  the  very  rapidity  of  its  movement ; 
whereas  the  evils  of  India  are  those  of  secular  stag- 
nation "  (p.  6).  We  quite  agree  that  "  secular 
stagnation  "  has  been  so  far  the  evil  of  India,  but  one 
should  have  thought  that  The  Times  and  The 
Morning  Post  had  already  taken  alarm  at  the  rapidity 
of  the  movement  with  which  liberal  ideas  are 
replacing  conservatism  and  decadence,  even  in  the 
most  conservative  of  traditions.  India  entertains 
no  illusions  concerning  her  inferiority  to  Europe 
in  the  realms  of  science  and  mechanical  efficiency 
or  organisation.  All  that  she  demands  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  profound  association  with  the  west,  on 
lines  of  right  understanding  and  mutual  respect. 
Less  than  this  she  does  not  desire  ;  more  than  this 
she  could  not  reasonably  expect. 

Without  making  any  pretensions  to  powers  of 
clairvoyance,  we  might,  perhaps,  suggest  that  what 
Mr.  Archer  is  thinking  about  is  the  deplorable 
condition  of  the  masses  in  India.  But  the  only 
panacea  for  that  evil  is  free  and  compulsory 
education  so  ably  advocated  by  the  late  Mr. 
Gokhale.  The  hopeless  illiteracy  of  the  masses 


20  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

does,  indeed,  constitute  India's  "  actual  state  of 
degradation,"  to  quote  Mr.  Archer,  and  the  remedy 
consists  not  in  knocking  down  phantoms  in  Indian 
character  and  traditions  with  missiles  of  ponderous 
phrases,  but  in  pleading  for  the  inauguration  of  a 
more  enlightened  educational  policy. 


SIR    RABINDRA    NATH    TAGORE 

WE  begin  this  series  of  character-sketches  with 
Tagore,  not  because  he  takes  precedence,  in  order  of 
time,  of  other  eminent  nation-builders  of  India,  but 
because  we  feel  that  his  name  is  best  known  to  the 
reading  public  in  this  country.  No  other  Indian 
occupies,  at  present,  a  more  prominent  place  in  the 
estimation  of  competent  critics.  And  if  towards 
the  end  of  a  highly  appreciative  chapter,  we  become 
somewhat  critical  of  Tagore' s  expressed  ideas  on 
politics  and  social  philosophy,  it  is  with  no  intention 
of  minimising  his  influence  as  the  poet  of  the 
Indian  Re-awakening,  but  solely  under  the  honest 
conviction  that  constant  thinking  about  universal  ideas 
renders  poets — and  he  will  be  a  bold  man  indeed 
who  questions  Tagore' s  pre-eminent  position  as 
poet — somewhat  indifferent  to  concrete  issues  and 
to  the  desire  of  reducing  ideas  to  a  coherent  system. 
We  shall  offer  our  criticism  in  a  spirit  of  reverence 
towards  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  modern  India 
has  produced. 

Sir  Rabindra  Nath,  the  Nobel  Prize  Laureate 
lor  1913,  is  the  most  highly  gifted  poet  of  the 
Renaissance  in  India  in  its  various  aspects — literary, 
religious,  social  and  philosophical.  He  has  given, 
in  language  understood  of  the  West,  eloquent  and 
forceful  expression  to  the  emotions  and  longings 


22  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

that  stir  the  heart  of  New  India.  But  he  is  much 
more  than  merely  a  brilliant  literary  exponent  of 
the  aspiration  and  outlook  of  awakened  India.  He 
is  a  poet,  to  be  sure,  but  he  is  a  prophet  as  well — 
one  who  beckons  us  on  to  the  future  and  asks  us  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  our  national  life  deep  and 
broad,  on  righteousness,  unity  and  love. 

Tagore's  magic  minstrelsies  have  called  a  new 
India  into  being,  sweeping  the  chords  with  the 
inspiration  that  comes  from  a  new  vision,  a  new 
discovery  of  the  spiritual,  a  new  synthesis  of  the 
contradictions  of  life.  The  power  of  his  song  has 
welded  us  into  a  fuller  unity,  the  vibrations  of  his 
music  have  thrilled  us  into  novel  conceptions  of  duty 
and  self-sacrifice  and  patriotism. 

Tagore  is  the  poet  of  disillusioned  India,  of 
modernised  India,  conscious  of  her  destiny.  Con- 
trasted with  Kipling,  the  roughrider  of  Imperialism, 
Tagore  is  the  delicate  poet  of  national  culture.  If 
it  were  excess  of  sentiment  to  suggest  that  Nation- 
alism is  the  poem  of  Tagore,  we  might  pernaps  say 
that  there  is  no  other  theme  of  human  interest  so 
near  his  heart  and  so  easily  transmutable  into  his 
music  as  national  regeneration  and  hope.  Kipling 
made  us  despair  :  Tagore  bids  us  be  of  good  cheer.  It 
is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  amount  of  mischief 
that  has  been  done  by  the  famous  lines  of  Kipling  ; 
especially  as  the  supplementary  lines  are  so  easily 
forgotten  : 

For  East  is  East,  and  West  is  West, 
And  never  the  twain  shall  meet." 

They  meet  in  Tagore,  who  represents  in  his  person- 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  23 

ality  and  in  his  poems  a  spiritual  fusion  of  East  and 
West.  While  proud  of  the  Indian  continuity,  he  is 
not  ashamed  of  enriching  and  replenishing  that 
continuity  by  assimilating  elements  of  Western 
culture,  which  serve  to  fill  the  gaps  in  indigenous 
tradition.  In  so  doing,  he  breaks  away  entirely 
from  those  mean  and  parochial  views  concerning 
human  destiny  which  assign  to  one  nation  the  task 
of  ruling  and  subduing  for  all  time,  and  to  another 
nation  the  duty  of  perpetual  subordination.  In 
Tagore,  East  and  West  meet  as  fully  enfranchised 
partners  rather  than  in  the  role  of  slave  and  master, 
or  factory-hand  and  employer. 

"  This  is  my  prayer  to  Thee,  my  Lord, — 
Give  me  the  strength  never  to  disown  the  poor 
Or  bend  my  knees  before  insolent  might."  1 

But  his  national  philosophy  is  not  sectarian,  racial, 
denominational  or  narrow-minded.  He  is  conscious 
of  the  limitations  and  deficiencies  in  the  older  phases 
of  Indian  tradition.  His  Nationalist  faith  does  not 
delight  in  blowing  its  own  trumpet  or  magnifying 
the  virtues  of  India  and  the  vices  of  other  countries. 
That  way  lies  jingoism.  To  Tagore  "  East  and 
West  "  connote  not  simply  convenient  geographical 
distinctions  but  culture-grounds  of  views,  con- 
ceptions, and  practices  which  by  their  harmonious 
interaction  enrich  the  content  of  life. 

Unlike    the    watchword    of    Swami    Dayananda 

Saraswati,  "  Back  to  the  Vedas,"   that  of  Tagore 

would  presumably  be  :    "  Forward  with  life."     Yet 

both  these  men  have  been  progressive. 

;  Tagore  is   pre-eminently  a   social   reformer.     As 


24  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

adherents  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj,  both  he  and  his 
people  have  broken  away  from  caste,  purdah  and  the 
I  spirit  of  religious  insularity.  He  finds  it  difficult  to 
believe  that  caste  and  nationality  are  compatible 
with  each  other.  Politics  aim  at  national  solidarity  ; 
caste  makes  for  endless  distinctions.  A  great 
national  unification  implies,  therefore,  a  great  revolt 
against  caste  trammels,  a  strong  impulse  towards 
reconciliation  of  conflicting  interests,  the  mutual 
composing  of  differences,  rhythmic  heart-beats  as  the 
result  of  engaging  in  common  pursuits  as  brothers, 

|   co-equals.     In  India,  caste  is  the  greatest  obstruction 

'   in  the  pathway  of  reform. 

'  When  I  realise  the  hypnotic  hold  which  this 
gigantic  system  of  cold-blooded  repression  has 
taken  on  the  minds  of  our  people,  whose  social  body 
it  has  so  completely  entwined  in  its  endless  coils  that 
the  free  expression  of  manhood,  under  the  direst 
necessity,  has  become  almost  an  impossibility,  the 
only  remedy  that  suggests  itself  to  me  is  to  educate 
them  out  of  their  trance.  .  .  .  If  to  break  up 
the  feudal  system,  and  the  tyrannical  convention- 
alism of  the  mediaeval  church,  which  had  outraged  the 
healthier  instincts  of  humanity,  Europe  needed  the 
thought  impulse  of  the  Renaissance  and  the  fierce 
struggle  of  the  Reformation,  do  we  not  need  in  a 
greater  degree  an  overwhelming  influx  of  higher 
social  ideas  before  a  place  can  be  found  for  true 
political  thinking  ?  Must  we  not  have  that  greater 
vision  of  humanity  which  will  impel  us  to  shake  off 
t\  the  fetters  that  shackle  our  individual  life  before  we 
begin  to  think  of  national  freedom  ? 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  25 

His  vision  of  his  country's  future  is  such  as  to  hold 
the  imagination  in  thrall. 

"  Where  the  mind  is  without  fear  and  the  head  is  held  high, 
Where  knowledge  is  free, 
Where  the  world  has  not  been  broken  up  by  narrow  domestic 

walls, 

Where  words  come  out  from  the  depth  of  truth, 
Where  the  clear  stream  of  reason  has  not  lost  its  way  in  the 

dreary  desert  sand  of  dead  habit, 
Where  the  mind  is  led  forward  by  Thee  into  ever-widening 

thought  and  action — 
Into  that  heaven  of  freedom,  my  Father,  let  my  country 

awake  !  " 

Since  Tagore  is  the  poet  of  the  Renaissance,  his 
millennium  is  not  in  the  past.  And  yet  no  living 
poet  could  set  greater  store  by  the  past  traditions 
and  culture  of  India  than  he.  He  is  Indian  to  the 
backbone,  and  since  he  is  proud  of  being  an  Indian, 
New  India  is  proud  of  him.  His  gospel  is  that  of 
self-respect,  self-reliance  and  national  self-realisation. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  his  national  fervour 
when  we  bear  in  mind  that  a  keen  sense  of  nationality 
is  characteristic  even  of  men  with  world-wide 
sympathies.  Tagore  believes  in  India :  a  nation. 
And  yet  this  nation  is  not  to  cut  itself  off  from  the 
main  currents  of  modern  thought,  or  isolate  itself 
from  the  spiritual  acquisitions  of  sister  nations,  nor 
yet  is  India  to  delude  herself  with  the  belief  that  mere 
trading  on  the  past  would  lead  to  aught  but  moral 
degeneracy.  But,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  spiritual 
federation  of  nations,  India,  according  to  him,  should 
occupy  a  place  of  honour  as  the  Mother  of  Nations. 
And  who  could  urge  this  plea  with  greater  consistency 
and  authority  than  the  poet-prophet  of  the  Indian 
Renaissance,  who,  by  his  literary  contributions  and 


26  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

an  eminently  useful  and  irreproachable  life,  has 
enhanced  the  status  of  India  in  the  eyes  of  the 
intellectual  world  ? 

Tagore's  evangel  is :  "  cultivate  the  spirit  of 
invincible  optimism  ;  believe  in  life  ;  live  worthy  of 
life."  W.  B.  Yeats  endorses  this  with  a  statement 
from  someone  who  asserts  that  Tagore  is  the  first 
Indian  poet  who  has  not  "  refused  to  live."  But 
in  not  "  refusing  to  live  "  Tagore  has  not  only 
benefited  India  but  has  placed  in  some  measure  the 
whole  religious  world  (including  Christendom)  under 
a  deep  obligation.  For  the  bane  of  the  religious  life 
in  the  past  has  been  a  morbid,  too  overbearing  sense 
of  sin,  a  depressing  concentration  on  the  inherent 
vileness  of  human  interests  and  attachments,  a 
sense  of  the  remoteness  of  God  from  the  arena  of 
mundane  interests,  and  a  persistent  pursuit  of 
"  the  soul's  salvation  "  instead  of  the  soul's  enrich- 
ment through  service  and  love. 

"  In  this  laborious  world  of  Thine,  tumultuous  with  toil  and 

with  struggle, 
Among  hurrying  crowds,  shall  I  stand  before  Thee,  face  to 

face? 

And  when  my  work  shall  be  done  in  this  world, 
O    King    of    Kings,    alone    and    speechless    shall    I    stand 

before  Thee,  face  to  face  ?  " 

"  Thus  it  is  that  Thy  joy  in  me  is  so  full.  Thus  it  is  that 
Thou  hast  come  down  to  me.  O  Thou  Lord  of  all  heavens, 
where  would  be  Thy  love  if  I  were  not  ?  Thou  hast  taken  me 
as  Thy  partner  of  all  this  wealth.  In  my  heart  is  the  endless 
play  of  Thy  delight.  In  my  heart  Thy  will  is  ever  taking 
shape." 

Tagore's  intense  religious  mysticism,  combined 
with  buoyant  joy  in  life's  varied  interests,  produces 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  27 

a  resultant  patriotism  which  is  chastened  with  a  sense 
of  limitation  and  yet  is  audacious  and  progressive  in 
its  design. 

The  Trumpet  represents  India's  contribution, 
through  Tagore,  to  the  Empire's  war  poetry.  The 
poem  is  a  witness  to  his  profound  perturbation  of 
spirit  over  the  Empire's  death-grapple  with  the 
organised  militarism  of  the  Central  Powers.  His 
loyalty  reflects  the  loyalty  of  enlightened  India  to 
the  best  interests  of  an  Empire  which,  with  all  its 
failings,  rests  primarily  on  moral  suasion  rather  than 
on  brute  force.  We  cannot  resist  quoting  at  least 
one  line  from  The  Trumpet : 

"...     .     For  to-night  thy  trumpet  shall  be  sounded. 
From  thee  I  had  asked  peace,  only  to  find  shame. 
Now  I  stand  before  thee,  help  me  to  don  my  armour, 
Let  hard  blows  of  trouble  strike  fire  into  my  life, 
Let  my  heart  beat  in  pain — beating  the  drum  of  thy  victory. 
My  hands  shall  be  utterly  emptied  to  take  up  thy  trumpet." 

But  in  spite  of  his  war  poems,  Sir  Rabindra 
Nath  Tagore  is  an  uncompromising  lover  of  Peace 
and  concord  among  the  Nations.  One  of  his  utter- 
ances made  in  Japan  is  "  that  the  vital  ambition 
of  all  militarist  civilisations  is  to  obtain  an  exclusive 
monopoly  of  the  Devil !  "  He  regrets  that  in  the 
twentieth  century  "  the  unspeakable  filth  of  the  cen- 
turies is  being  churned  up  "  in  direct  violation  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  as  Christian  nations  are  flying 
at  each  other's  throats.  He  warns  Japan  against 
accepting  European  "equality"  on  a  military  basis. 

But  Tagore  is  at  his  best,  both  in  crystallising 
his  philosophy  of  war  and  in  expressing  India's  sense 
of  loyalty,  in  his  latest  war  poem,  The  Oarsmen. 


I 


28  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

We  reproduce  the  poem  here,  with  the  exception  of 
the  first  stanza. 

"  Do  you  hear  the  roar  of  death  through  the  listening  hush  of 
distance, 

And  there  rings  the  Captain's  voice  in  the  dark, 
'  Come,  sailors,  for  the  time  in  the  haven  is  over  !  ' 

Whom  do  you  blame,  brothers  ?     Bow  your  heads  down  ! 

The  sin  has  been  yours  and  ours, 

The  heat  growing  in  the  heart  of  God  for  ages — 

The  cowardice  of  the  weak,  the  arrogance  of  the  strong,  the 

greed  of  fat  prosperity,  the  rancour  of  the  deprived, 

pride  of  race  and  insult  to  man — 
Has  burst  God's  peace  raging  in  storm.     .     .     . 

Stop  your  bluster  of  abuse  and  self-  praise,  my  friends, 
And  with  the  calm  of  silent  prayer  on  your  brows  sail  forward 
to  the  shore  of  the  new  world.     .     .     . 

We  do  not  fear  you,  O  monster :    for  we  have  lived  every 
moment  of  our  life  by  conquering  you, 

And  we  died  with  the  faith  that  Peace  is  true  and  Good  is 
true,  and  true  is  the  eternal  One  ! 

If  the  deathless  dwell  not  in  the  heart  of  Death,  if  glad  wisdom 

bloom  not  bursting  the  sheath  of  sorrow, 
If  sin  do  not  die  of  its  own  revealment,  if  pride  break  not 

under  its  load  of  decorations, 
Then  whence  comes  the  hope  that  drives  these  men  from 

their  homes  like  stars  rushing  to  their  death  in  the 

morning  light  ? 
Shall  the  value  of  the  martyrs'  blood  and  the  mothers'  tears 

be  utterly  lost  in  the  dust  of  the  earth,  not  buying 

Heaven  with  their  price  ? 
And  when  Man  bursts  his  mortal  bounds,  is  not  the  Boundless 

revealed  in  that  moment  ?  " 

One  word  more  about  Tagore's  poetry.  He  is  the 
first  Indian  poet  that  introduces  a  democratic  concep- 
tion of  God  in  religious  verse.  It  is  no  doubt  true 
that  the  entire  Hindu  philosophy  of  God  as  an  all- 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  29 

pervasive  Reality,  of  which  individuals  are  so  many 
isolated  self-expressions,  is  in  its  higher  phases 
democratic,  in  the  sense  that  in  its  most  sublime 
developments  at  least,  it  leaves  little  scope  for 
crouching  and  cringing  before  a  localised  divinity, 
seated  in  aristocratic  detachment  from  human 
affairs.  But  students  of  Indian  religious  experience 
also  know  that  sublime  intellectual  abstractions 
seldom  afford  a  basis  for  that  passionate  devotion 
to  an  object  of  worship  which  serves  as  a  guide 
through  the  experiences  of  life.  In  India,  though 
Reason  has  soared  above  all  limitations  and 
attributes  that  gather  round  human  personality, 
in  its  definition  of  Divine  Essence  denying  to  It  even 
such  an  important  function  as  character,  yet  the 
profound  religious  instincts  of  the  people  have  led 
them  to  bestow  passionate  worship  on  some  mani- 
festations of  Brahma,  the  Infinite,  the  Actionless, 
the  Eternal  One,  the  One  without  a  second,  the 
pure  Being. 

In  the  Worship  of  Ishwara,  then,  devotees  have  not 
refrained  from  showing  abject  humility,  have  used 
most  slighting  and  even  degrading  epithets  about 
themselves  in  their  desire  to  exalt  the  Object  of 
Worship,  the  personal  God  which  claims  and  purifies 
allegiance. 

But  Tagore's  personal  God  is  described  as 
"  Brother,"  "  Friend,"  even  though  He  is  "  Lord 
of  my  life  "  and  "  My  King."  Compare  his  beautiful 
hymn  : 

"  Day  after  day,  O  Lord  of  my  life 

I  shall  stand  before  Thee,  face  to  face,"  etc. 


30  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

We  now  come  to  his  political  and  social  philosophy, 
or  rather  his  attempts  at  evolving  one.  In 
"  Nationalism  "  (Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co.,  1917  : 
page  97)  Tagore  uses  these  words  :  "  Our  real  pro- 
blem in  India  is  not  political.  It  is  social.  This 
is  a  condition  not  only  prevailing  in  India,  but 
among  all  nations.  I  do  not  believe  in  an  exclusive 
political  interest.  Politics  in  the  West  have 
dominated  western  ideals,  and  we  in  India  are  trying 
to  imitate  you."  We  have  no  quarrel  with  Sir 
Rabindra  Nath  the  Poet  in  his  not  believing  "  in  an 
exclusive  political  interest."  It  would  be  just  as  hard 
for  some  of  us  not  endowed  with  poetic  gifts  to 
believe  "  in  an  exclusive  poetic  interest."  Gifts 
may  not  determine  one's  launching  on  a  political 
career,  but  training  is  indispensable,  and  the  securing 
of  a  thorough  training  involves  time  whkh  people 
engrossed  in  art  or  literature  or  kindred  pre-occupa- 
tions  can  ill  afford  to  spare.  If  training  is  essential, 
knowledge  of  problems  and  public  affairs  is  a  thousand 
times  more  so.  Then  again,  there  are  people  who 
temperamentally  find  it  in  the  line  of  the  least  resist- 
ance to  write  verse,  but  would  at  once  suffer  a  com- 
plete mental  collapse,  if  asked  to  mount  a  political 
platform  or  offer  mediation  in  a  political  emergency. 

But  does  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  mean  that  the 
education  of  the  masses  is  not  necessary  ?  If  it  is 
according  to  him  necessary,  then  how  can  it  be 
secured  without  keen  political  agitation  based  on  an 
intelligent  dispassionate  study  of  facts  ?  Or  does 
the  poet-laureate  of  Asia  mean  that  the  judicial 
machinery  as  it  exists  in  India  to-day  stands  in  no 


SIR   RABINDRA   NATH   TAGORE  31 

need  of  overhauling  and  police  methods  in  no  need  of 
revision  ? 

And  yet  it  is  the  merest  platitude  that  no  far- 
reaching  changes  in  the  administration  of  justice 
or  in  methods  of  government  have  ever  been  brought 
about  except  under  the  pressure  of  an  intelligent 
and  organised  political  demand.  Surely,  it  must 
have  occurred  to  Tagore  that  there  are  vital  political 
problems  in  India,  which  it  were  sheer  cowardice 
and  mental  perversity  to  ignore  or  minimise.  Why, 
the  moment  one  begins  to  study  such  humdrum 
though  harassing  questions  as  Indian  famines  and 
appalling  mortality  by  the  plague,  in  one's  endeavour 
to  trace  the  root  causes  and  suggest  remedies,  one  is 
at  once  brought  face  to  face  with  the  quasi-political 
aspects  of  these  oft-repeated  phenomena. 

"  Our  real  problem  in  India  is  not  political." 
Does  Sir  Rabindra  suggest  that  there  is  a  political 
problem  in  India  which  it  is  not  desirable  to  bestow 
attention  on,  or  does  he  mean  that  India  has  not 
emerged  on  the  political  stage  at  all  ?  If  the  latter, 
it  is  but  a  curious  irony  of  fate  that  has  sent  Mr. 
Montagu  to  India,  as  a  plenipotentiary  of  the 
British  Cabinet,  or  announced  to  the  world  India's 
consuming  passion  for  political  independence. 

Surely  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  knew  that  Mrs.  Besant 
was  interned  some  time  ago,  by  Lord  Pentland's 
government  on  a  political  issue,  viz.,  the  promotion 
of  Home  Rule  for  India.  And  Tagore,  who  preaches 
that  "  our  real  problem  in  India  is  not  political  " 
sent  a  most  pathetic  message  of  sympathy  to  her  in 
these  words  :  "  Convey  my  heart-felt  sympathy  for 


32  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Mrs.  Besant,  and  tell  her  that  her  martyrdom  for 
suffering  humanity  will  do  more  good  than  any 
crumbs  that  might  be  thrown  at  us  to  silence  our 
clamour." 

There  is  nothing  sacrosanct  about  politics  any 
more  than  there  is  anything  inherently  depraved 
about  them.  Politics  are  simply  public  activities 
directed  at  the  furtherance  of  national  interests  in 
obedience  to  the  obligations  of  the  State.  We 
quite  agree  with  Tagore  that  "  gigantic  organisations 
for  hurting  others,  and  warding  off  their  blows,  for 
making  money  by  dragging  others  back,  will  not 
help  us.  On  the  contrary,  by  their  crushing  weight, 
their  enormous  cost  and  their  deadening  effect  upon 
living  humanity,  they  will  seriously  impede  our 
freedom  in  the  larger  life  of  a  higher  civilisation  ' ' 
("  Nationalism,"  p.  101). 

It  is  pretty  obvious  that  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  starts 
by  reading  some  sinister  meaning  into  politics  and 
then  proceeds  to  demolish  the  man-of-straw  that  he 
sets  up.  In  all  probability  he  confines  politics  to 
"  a  political  and  economic  union  for  purposes  of 
defence  and  aggression  "  as  also  to  activities  calcu- 
lated to  promote  "  Commercialism  with  its  barbarity 
of  ugly  decorations  ...  a  terrible  menace  to 
all  humanity  because  setting  up  the  ideal  of  power 
over  perfection "  (p.  129:  Ibid),  But  commercial- 
ism and  aggression  are  not  politics,  and  there  is 
happily  an  increasing  number  of  politicians  whc 
are  fully  alive  to  the  dangers  of  organised  nationa 
selfishness,  who  are  fighting  for  the  rights  anc 
liberties  of  countries  other  than  their  own,  wh( 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE 


33 


seldom  tire  of  fighting  for  wider  opportunities  for 
the  oppressed  and  down-trodden  and  who  are  thus 
slowly  improving  on  political  ideals.  Besides,  if 
there  are  evils  rampant  in  politics-ridden  countries, 
who  will  venture  to  assert  that  countries  where 
politics  have  been  stagnant  or  absent  altogether  are 
models  of  perfection  ? 

At  the  same  time  we  should  venture  to  point  out 
that  there  are  political  organisations  in  this  country, 
as  in  other  European  countries,  whose  one  supreme 
objective  is  to  try  and  mitigate  the  very  same  horrors 
that  have  sent  cold  shudders  into  Sir  Rabindra  Nath's 
being,  and  to  combat  the  evil  tendencies  that 
"  seriously  impede  our  freedom  in  the  larger  life  of 
a  higher  civilisation."  And  we  shall  have  to  admit 
that  there  is  greater  weight  attaching  to  well- 
considered  and  concerted  action  of  organisations 
than  the  nebulous  though  sublime  day-dreams  of 
isolated  individuals.  For  the  only  effective  way  of 
bringing  about  the  overthrow  of  a  bad  organisation 
is  by  setting  up  a  good  organisation  having  noble 
aims  and  employing  honourable  methods.  All 
right-thinking  men  must,  of  course,  admit  that  there 
are  sordid  motives  and  squalid  behaviour  in  much  of 
the  "  party  politics  "  propaganda  of  to-day,  but  all 
political  activity  does  not  resolve  itself  into  party 
bias,  and  in  spite  of  it  all,  he  will  be  a  bold  man 
indeed  who  will  dogmatically  assert  that  no  good  has 
come  out  of  it,  in  democratic  countries,  even  out  of 
the  tension  and  conflict  of  opposing  factions. 

This  attitude  towards  politics  would  be  quite 
understandable  in  one  that  was  opposed  to  the  inter- 


34  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

change  of  ideals  between  East  and  West.  But 
Tagore  says  emphatically  :  "I  am  not  for  thrusting 
off  Western  civilisation  and  becoming  segregated 
in  our  independence.  Let  us  have  a  deep  association. 
If  providence  wants  England  to  be  the  channel  of 
that  communication,  of  that  deeper  association,  I 
am  willing  to  accept  it  with  all  humility.  I  have 
great  faith  in  human  nature,  and  I  think  the  West  will 
find  its  true  mission  "  (Ibid.  p.  109).  How  is  it 
possible  then,  that  with  the  constant  interchange 
of  ideas  and  the  spread  of  western  education,  India 
must  eternally  refrain  from  western  institutions, 
say  those  of  representative  and  responsible  govern- 
ment ?  And  that  on  the  specious  assumption  that 
our  venerable  ancestors  will  turn  in  their  graves, 
when  they  get  to  know  that  their  progeny  have 
actually  taken  to  democratic  ways.  Is  it  not  much 
more  preferable  to  accept  the  best  ideals  that  have 
moulded  British  institutions  than  simply  to  bow 
down  before  the  physical  force  of  pax  Britannica  ? 

We  do  not  know  whether  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  is 
confusing  sectarianism  with  nationalism  "  which  for 
years  has  been  at  the  bottom  of  India's  troubles." 
The  root-causes  of  India's  repeated  misfortunes  have 
been  sectarian  antagonisms  and  religious  bigotries 
and  racial  insularities.  If  we  could  have  evolved  a 
strong,  unified  and  consolidated  national  conscious- 
ness, Indian  history  would  be  quite  different  to-day. 
If,  however,  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  is  referring  to  the 
recent  unrest  in  that  section  of  India  that  is  politically 
self-conscious  and  articulate,  we  have  only  to  remind 
him  that  national  consciousness  is  richer  in  content 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  35 

than  provincial  jealousies  and  communal  feuds, 
however  deplorable  the  anomalies  attending  on  a 
period  of  transition,  and  however  inferior  in  quality 
be  national  feeling  to  that  sense  of  international 
harmony  towards  which  all  Indian  nationalists  of  the 
sane  type  are  impatiently  aspiring. 

It  is  only  as  a  nation  that  India  can  take  her  place 
in  the  counsels  of  the  nations.  It  is  all  very  well  to 
talk  of  International  Brotherhood,  but  we  cannot 
dispense  with  the  preliminary  stage  of  nation-building, 
and  no  free  nation  would  admit  us  to  her  brother- 
hood unless  we  go  there  as  the  accredited  repre- 
sentatives of  "  India  :  a  Nation."  The  task  that 
faces  Indian  nationalists  to-day  is  stupendous,  and 
the  courage  with  which  they  face  difficulties  of  vast 
magnitude  that  beset  the  path  of  nation-building, 
should  call  forth  our  admiration  instead  of  provoking 
our  amusement. 

Besides,  commercial  enterprises  and  vast  organisa- 
tions for  the  exploitation  of  weaker  races  and  poorer 
individuals  do  not  exhaust  the  contents  of  nation- 
ality. A  nation  has  a  vast  heritage  of  ideals,  dreams 
and  aspirations  bequeathed  from  the  past  and 
waiting  to  be  developed  for  the  future,  and  only  as 
members  of  a  nation  can  we  appraise  our  own 
traditions  or  rightly  value  the  acquisitions  of  other 
races.  Besides,  there  are  internal  problems  awaiting 
solution  at  the  hands  of  any  one  nation.  We  have 
heard  of  broad-minded  Englishmen  and  sympathetic 
Frenchmen,  but  we  have  not  yet  come  upon  one 
that  was  a  representative  of  all  the  nations. 

But  Tagore  is  on  much  weaker  ground  when  he 


36  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

expounds  his  views  on  nationalism;  "  Nationalism 
is  a  great  menace,"  he  begins.  "  It  is  the  particular 
thing  which  for  years  has  been  at  the  bottom  of 
India's  troubles.  And  inasmuch  as  we  have  been 
ruled  and  dominated  by  a  nation  that  is  strictly 
political  in  its  attitude,  we  have  tried  to  develop 
within  ourselves,  despite  our  inheritance  from  the 
past,  a  belief  in  our  eventual  political  destiny." 
(Ibid.  pp.  in,  112).  And  yet,  curiously  enough, 
Tagore  completely  stultifies  himself  by  the  astound- 
ing declaration  that  "  India  has  never  had  a  real 
sense  of  nationalism.  Even  though  from  childhood 
I  had  been  taught  that  idolatry  of  the  nation  is 
almost  better  than  reverence  for  God  and  humanity, 
I  believe  I  have  outgrown  that  teaching,  and  it  is 
my  conviction  that  my  countrymen  will  truly  gain 
their  India  by  fighting  against  the  education  which 
teaches  them  that  a  country  is  greater  than  the  ideals 
of  humanity.  The  educated  Indian  at  present  is 
trying  to  absorb  some  lessons  from  history  contrary 
to  the  lessons  of  our  ancestors." 

Before  we  proceed  to  unravel  the  amazing  incon- 
sistencies that  are  sown  thick  in  these  otherwise 
beautiful  and  touching  passages,  we  should  like  to 
give  in  Tagore' s  own  words,  his  definition  of  a  nation. 
"It  is  the  aspect  of  a  whole  people  organised  for 
power  "  (p.  no). 

We  do  not  accept  the  definition,  for  it  is  the  most 
tortuous  and  one-sided  that  could  possibly  catch 
the  eye.  Yet  we  should  like  to  analyse  his  own 
statements  in  the  light  of  his  definition.  A  moment 
ago,  we  quoted  Tagore' s  dictum  that  nationalism 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  37 

"  which  for  years  has  been  at  the  bottom  of  India's 
troubles  "  is  a  great  menace.  But  has  any  student 
of  Indian  history — even  of  recent  Indian  history — 
ever  heard  of  the  whole  Indian  people  "  organised 
for  power  ?  "  There  is  nothing  more  conspicuous 
among,  at  any  rate,  the  illiterate  masses  of  humanity 
inhabiting  the  various  parts  of  India,  than  their 
seeming  heterogeneity  and  disparity  from  other 
communities.  If  the  whole  of  India  were  "  organised 
for  power  "  British  ascendancy  there  would  have 
been  rather  difficult  to  establish. 

But  Sir  Rabindra  Nath  takes  our  breath  away 
when  he  tells  us,  in  a  half-humorous  manner  that 
"  In  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  political  agitation 
in  India  .  .  .  there  was  a  party  known  as  the 
Indian  Congress  ;  it  had  no  real  programme.  They 
had  a  few  grievances  for  redress  by  the  authorities." 
And  yet  Reuter  tells  us  that  Tagore  shared  with  Mrs. 
Besant,  the  president-elect  of  the  Indian  National 
Congress  (which  according  to  Sir  Rabindra  Nath 
was  and  is  presumably,  no  longer  in  existence),  and 
Mr.  Surendra  Nath  Banner jea  the  honours  of  the 
national  assembly  that  had  met  to  demand  Home 
Rule  within  the  Empire.  And  what  is  more  inter- 
esting is  that  Tagore  specially  composed  a  beautiful 
ode  for  the  occasion.  And  yet  he  coolly  tells  us  that 
(<  there  was  a  party  known  as  the  Indian  Congress  ' 
(  Ibid.  p.  112). 

After  rehearsing  beautiful  sentiments  that  spring 
out  of  a  noble  but  untempered  idealism,  Sir  Rabindra 
Nath  proceeds  :  "  So  much  for  the  social  and  political 
regeneration  of  India.  Now  we  come  to  her 


38  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

industries,  and  I  am  very  often  asked  whether  there 
is  in  India  any  industrial  regeneration  since  the 
advent  of  the  British  Government.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  at  the  beginning  of  British  rule  in 
India,  our  industries  Were  suppressed,  and  since  then 
we  have  not  met  with  any  real  help  or  encouragement 
to  enable  us  to  make  a  stand  against  the  monster 
commercial  organisations  of  the  world.  The  nations 
have  decreed  that  we  must  remain  purely  an  agricultural 
people  "  (p.  126). 

So  far,  so  good.  But  instead  of  making  any  con- 
structive proposals  for  the  future  Sir  Rabindra  Nath 
again  plunges  into  exalted  rhetoric.  "  I  personally 
do  not  believe  in  the  unwieldy  organisations  of  the 
v  \  present  day ....  Beauty  is  the  signature 
which  the  Creator  stamps  upon  his  works." 

From  another  book  called  "  Personality  "  (Messrs. 
Macmillan  and  Co.)  we  gather  that  Tagore  has  deve- 
loped some  views  concerning  the  rights  and  functions 
of  womanhood.  It  must  be  a  profound  instinct  that 
led  him  to  make  the  following  weighty  statement  : 
"  At  the  present  stage  of  history,  civilisation  is 
•  almost  exclusively  masculine,  a  civilisation  of  power 
'  in  which  the  woman  has  been  thrust  in  the  shade. 
Therefore  it  has  lost  its  balance,  and  it  is  moving  by 
hopping  from  war  to  war.  Its  motive  forces  are  the 
forces  of  destruction,  and  its  ceremonials  are  carried 
through  by  an  appalling  number  of  human  sacrifices. 
This  one-sided  civilisation  is  crashing  along  a  series 
of  catastrophes  at  a  tremendous  speed  because  of 
its  one-sidedness."  ("  Personality,"  p.  172).  We 
do  not  know  what  Miss  Christabel  Pankhurst  would 


SIR  RABINDRA  NATH  TAGORE  39 

think  of  the  above  declaration,  but  it  contains,  in  a 
nut-shell,  the  secret  of  the  failure  of  a  man-made 
civilisation.  I  believe,  all  sane-minded  suffragists 
would  hail  the  statement  as  a  precise  and  powerful 
argument  for  active  co-operation  between  the  sexes. 
Yet,  they  will  soon  be  disappointed,  if  they  felt 
elated  over  Tagore's  conversion  to  the  cause  of 
women's  suffrage,  for  he  seems  to  be  out  of  touch  with 
the  mighty  forces  that  are  impelling  the  women's 
movement,  with  active,  progressive,  constructive 
feminism. 

If  the  one-sided  civilisation  has  failed,  how  else 
could  it  be  made  complete  and  harmonious  except  by 
organised  women  capturing  the  control  now  denied 
them  over  the  affairs  of  the  State,  and  sharing  it 
with  men  ?  But  Tagore  continues  :  "  Woman's 
function  is  the  passive  function  of  the  soil,  which  not 
only  helps  the  tree  to  grow,  but  keeps  its  growth 
within  limits.  .  .  .  Woman  is  endowed  with 
the  passive  qualities  of  chastity,  modesty,  devotion 
and  power  of  self-sacrifice  in  a  greater  measure  than 
man  is  "  (Ibid.  p.  172-73).  Tagore  is  quite  broad- 
minded  enough  to  concede  that  "  the  human  world 
is  the  woman's  world  "  and  yet  he  would  say — to  a 
very  large  extent,  quite  rightly — that  '  This 
domestic  world  has  been  the  gift  of  God  to  woman." 
We  will  only  add — and  to  man  also. 

In  the  meanwhile  we  are  grateful  for  the  prophecy 
"  And  in  the  future  civilisation  also,  the  women, 
the  feebler  creatures  .  .  .  they  will  have  their 
place,  and  those  bigger  creatures  will  have  to  give 
way"  ("  Personality,  "  page  184). 


II 

RAJA    RAM    MOHAN    ROY 

(1772-1833) 

IF  one  were  asked  to  point  to  the  Indian  through 
whose  courageous  efforts  a  golden  bridge  was  first 
erected  uniting  the  progressive,  practical  traditions 
of  the  West  with  the  sublime  idealism  of  the  East, 
I  should  point  to  Ram  Mohan  Roy.  And  if  one 
were  again  asked  to  single  out  the  great  man,  through 
whose  personal  endeavour  and  great  self-sacrifice, 
abuses  and  corrupt  practices  that  had  gathered  as 
accretions  round  the  once  pure  and  healthy 
body  of  Hindu  doctrine  received,  if  not  a  violent 
check,  at  least,  scathing  condemnation,  I  should 
point  to  Ram  Mohan  Roy.  And  if  one  were  asked, 
whose  was  the  bold  and  prophetic  vision,  that  en- 
abled him  to  see  beyond  India's  political  down- 
fall and  the  passing  away  of  the  sceptre  from 
her,  beyond  the  surrender  of  her  independence  and 
the  humiliation  of  her  lot,  to  the  future  vistas  radiant 
with  the  dawn  of  hope,  when  through  Western  culture, 
and  democratic  discipline  the  Mother  of  Nations 
would  again  step  out  to  take  an  honourable  place 
in  the  comity  of  nations,  I  should  point  to  Ram 

4o 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  41 

Mohan  Roy.  And  finally  :  If  one  were  asked  to 
indicate  the  master-mind  who  saw  that  India's 
progress  was  to  be  conditioned  not  by  contemplation 
alone,  but  by  action  ;  not  by  pessimism,  but  by 
invincible  hope  ;  not  by  self-suppression,  but  by 
self-realisation  ;  not  by  isolation  from  the  life  of  the 
West,  but  by  healthy  competition  or  co-operation 
with  it,  enlisting  in  the  cause  of  national  develop- 
ment forces  that  truly  modernise  life,  wresting  the 
mysteries  of  science,  capturing  the  treasures  of 
Western  knowledge,  and  applying  these  researches 
for  the  enrichment  of  India,  I  should  again  point  to 
Raja  Ram  Mohan  Roy. 

Ram  Mohan  was,  indeed,  a  man  of  capacious 
powers  of  mind,  broad  religious  sympathies,  and  a 
very  powerful  though  genial  personality.  His  range 
of  interests  was  as  wide  as  the  sphere  of  his  activities. 
He  never  destroyed  for  the  sheer  fiendish  delight  of 
destroying.  He  pulled  down,  so  that  he  might  raise 
a  new  building,  on  the  ruins  of  the  old,  after  clearing 
away  the  debris. 

Our  hero  figures  throughout  his  long  and  arduous 
campaign  against  ignorance,  helplessness  and 
oppression,  not  only  as  the  champion  of  men,  but 
also  of  women.  He  is  the  first  Indian  who  raised  his 
powerful  voice  against  the  iniquitous  treatment  of 
women.  He  has  done  for  women  in  India,  what  John 
Stuart  Mill  did  for  the  women  of  England  in  another 
direction.  The  socially  enfranchised — and  one 
earnestly  hopes  that  also  the  politically  enfranchised 
women  of  the  future  would  think  well  of  him,  who 
generations  before,  strove  to  improve  their  status, 


42  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

and  sought  to  penalise  the  indignities  and  horrors 
that  they  suffered,  even  under  the  British  regime. 

Before  we  proceed  to  fuller  details  and  personal 
incidents,  we  shoiild  like  to  suggest  that  the  Raja's 
1  title  to  celebrity  can  be  established  only  through  his 
founding  the  Brahma  Samaj  in  1828.  But  his 
efforts  were  not,  by  any  means,  confined  to  religion. 
He  just  as  strenuously  promoted  the  best  interests 
of  the  community  by  stimulating  interest  in  educa- 
tion, giving  generous  donations,  and  helping  those 
who  were  pioneers  in  this  respect.  He  was  perfectly 
in  his  element,  when  pouring  hot  indignation  over 
the  practice  of  suttee  as  when  pleading  for  political 
reform  or  advocating  the  cause  of  the  King  of  Oudh. 

Beyond  dispute,  the  hero  of  the  present  sketch 
stands  head  and  shoulders  above  his  contemporaries 
and  even  many  of  his  successors,  as  the  premier 
nation-builder  of  India.  His  great  towering  person- 
ality stands  in  solitary,  majestic  outline,  dwarfing 
'  by  its  contrast,  even  greater  men  of  a  later  day. 
For  in  passing  judgments  on  the  achievements  of  the 
Raja  we  must  remember  the  obstacles  he  had  to 
encounter ;  the  organised  forces  of  conservatism 
and  decadence  against  which  he  had  to  stand  up 
and  fight,  and  the  difficult  times  during  which  he 
flourished.  And  never  did  man  fight  more  valiantly, 
or  was  more  obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision. 

Ram  Mohan  came  of  a  highly  respectable  and 
deeply  religious  parentage,  his  father  being  for  long 
connected  with  the  Muhammadan  Government  in 
Bengal.  He  had  thus  sprung  from  very  high-caste 
and  orthodox  Brahmins,  known  as  Kulins.  His 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  43 

father  was  a  follower  of  the  Vishnuite  leader, 
Chaitanya,  who  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
infused  emotional  warmth  and  fervour  into  Hindu 
worship  and  devotion,  which  was  till  then  either 
ceremonial  or  else  severely  intellectual.  His  mother 
came  of  a  Shdkta  family.  The  Shaktas  are  a  Hindu 
sect,  who  worship  goddesses  as  the  energy  of  the 
Supreme  Being.  Lakshmi  is  thus  the  energy  of 
Vishnu  ;  Uma  the  energy  of  Shiva. 

While  our  hero  was  only  twelve  years  old,  he  was 
married  by  his  parents,  but  his  girl-wife  soon  died. 

He  was  married,  later,  to  two  girls,  and  was  accord- 
ingly a  polygamist  till  1824.  These  little  incidents 
should  not  be  misconstrued  as  detracting  from  Ram 
Mohan's  greatness  ;  in  the  first  place,  he  was  not 
responsible  for  marrying  the  two  wives,  he  only  had 
to  submit  to  the  mandates  of  the  father  ;  secondly 
not  having  attained  to  years  of  discretion,  he  could 
not  have  been  expected  to  judge  whether  the  parents' 
decision  was  faulty  and  reprehensible  or  good. 
Lastly,  his  views  and  convictions  which  really  made 
him  great  subsequently  had  not  yet  formed  and  taken 
shape.  He  was  till  then  only  a  creature  of  cir- 
cumstances ;  not  yet  the  creator  of  a  new  environ- 
ment for  Hinduism  and — India. 

About  the  year  1784,  he  was  sent,  for  instruction, 
to  the  Muhammadan  seat  of  learning  in  Patna,  where 
he  continued  as  pupil  till  1787.  While  he  pursued  his 
studies  there,  he  was  greatly  attracted  by  the  teach- 
ings of  Moslem  Sufis  (i.e.,  mystics)  who  had  broken 
away  from  the  rigid  orthodoxy  of  the  Schools.  These 
Sufi  doctrines  suggested  affinities  with  the  teachings 


44  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

of  Vedanta  and  held  his  mind  under  their  spell. 
They  became  formulative  influences  in  his  life.  The 
Sufis,  in  common  with  Vedantists,  set  forth  the 
ultimate  goal  of  the  religious  endeavour  to  be 
absorption  into  the  Divine,  and  full  initiation  into  the 
last  stage  of  revelation  is  attained  after  preliminary 
grounding  and  probation  in  the  stages  called  "  The 
Way,"  "  The  Truth,"  etc.  Intuition  was  recognised 
as  the  best  vehicle  for  the  apprehension  of  reality, 
by  the  Sufis.  It  is  also  more  than  probable  that  Ram 
Mohan  came  into  touch,  while  at  School,  with  the 
Mua'tazallite  philosophers,  who  taught  that  Reason 
was  a  sure  and  unfailing  guide  to  the  facts  of  life  ; 
that  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was 
untenable  and  that  sensitiveness  to  the  great  moral 
issues  of  life  was  the  inner  core  of  religion.  This 
school  of  thought  exercised  great  influence  during  the 
eighth  century  A.D.,  in  Baghdad  and  elsewhere, 
during  a  period,  when  through  its  numerous  conquests 
in  the  East  and  the  West,  Islam  came  into  touch  with 
Greek  civilisation  and  Christian  ideals,  and  enriched 
— and  was  in  its  turn  replenished  by — non-Islamic 
cultures  and  traditions. 

When  Ram  Mohan  returned  home,  the  rationalistic 
teachings  his  mind  was  steeped  in,  encouraged  him 
to  a  revolt  against  idol-worship.  His  parents  offered 
ingenious  explanations,  justifying  the  worship  of 
images  as  mere  symbols  of  the  divine.  But  Ram 
Mohan  had  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  renounce 
idolatry,  once  and  for  all.  Miss  Collet  tells  us  an 
amusing  story  of  how  Ram  Mohan  Roy  was  once 
prevailed  upon  by  his  mother  to  do  homage  to  the 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  45 

idols  for  her  sake.  When  he  could  no  longer 
resist  the  repeated  requests,  he  went  and  did  the 
required  homage,  all  the  time  being  as  pessimistic 
and  sceptical  as  ever  concerning  the  utility  of  the 
act.  He  went  through  great  persecution  at  home 
and  while  very  young  was  asked  not  to  darken  his 
father's  doorstep  again.  For  several  years  he  went 
about  as  a  wandering  ascetic,  in  search  of  truth  and 
desirous  of  meeting  great  men  who  might  give  him 
fuller  knowledge  concerning  the  things  that  disturbed 
his  soul.  It  is  even  suggested  that  he  held,  in  the 
course  of  these  wanderings,  prolonged  discussions 
with  the  Lamas  of  Tibet.  But  we  possess  no  con- 
vincing evidence  in  support  of  this  statement.  After 
some  time,  however,  his  father  pardoned  him  and 
allowed  him  to  return,  when  he  settled  in  Benares, 
and  began  the  study  of  Sanscrit  and  Hindu  scriptures, 
but  did  not  commence  the  study  of  English  till  1796. 
After  the  death  of  his  father  in  1803,  Ram  Mohan 
was  most  virulently  attacked  and  persecuted  by  his 
mother,  who  wanted,  by  launching  law-suits,  to 
deprive  him  of  his  share  in  the  ancestral  property  and 
even  of  his  acquired  means.  But  in  this  attempt 
she  was  completely  defeated.  She  wanted  to  urge 
the  plea  that  Ram  Mohan's  persistent  refusal  to 
conform  to  Hindu  ceremony  and  rites  was  proof 
positive  that  he  was  beyond  the  pale  of  Hinduism. 
In  1804,  when  settled  in  Murshidabad,  he  brought 
out  a  book  in  Persian  called  "  Tuhfatul  Muwah- 
hiddin "  or  "  A  Gift,  to  those  who  believe  in 
the  unity  of  the  Godhead.'*  His  rationalistic 
utterances  may  have  given  offence  to  not  a  few,  but 


46  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

these  certainly  mark  a  definite  advance  on  irrational 
theory  and  pre-supposition  expressed  both  by 
orthodox,  unreformed  Hinduism  and  the  dogma- 
ridden  Christianity  of  the  missionary  pathfinders  like 
Carey,  Marshman  and  Ward.  We  cast  no  reflection 
on  the  work  that  was  splendidly  done  under  diffi- 
cult conditions  by  these  really  great  men,  who  not 
only  preached  the  gospel,  but  translated  the  Bible, 
started  the  first  printing  press  in  India,  and  helped  in 
raising  the  depressed  classes.  But  their  theology 
was  as  crude  and  as  hopelessly  Calvinistic  as  their 
intentions  were  benevolent,  and  through  theological 
narrow-mindedness  they  defeated  the  very  object, 
for  the  promotion  of  which  they  had  so  heroically 
consecrated  their  lives. 

Some  eighty-seven  years  ago,  a  wise  man  from  the 
East  could  be  seen  treading  the  streets  of  London 
with  measured  gait  and  dignified  mien  or  driving 
through  provincial  towns,  in  the  company  of  friends 
and  admirers,  amidst  the  curious  gazes  of  interested 
on-lookers.  One  wonders  if  the  lookers-on  could 
have  even  a  faint  glimmering  of  an  idea  whether  the 
venerable-looking  oriental  was  visiting  London,  in 
1830,  on  a  holiday  trip  or  on  a  mission  the  import- 
ance of  Which  might  disturb  the  equanimity  of  a 
man  not  so  great  as  he.  The  Eastern  visitor  that 
we  are  referring  to  was  no  other  than  Raja  Ram 
Mohan  Roy.  Ram  Mohan  was  given  a  very  warm 
reception  in  London  by  a  host  of  friends,  and  his 
lectures  on  liberal  religion  were  listened  to  with  great 
interest.  He  made  numerous  friends,  and  the 
cordiality  shown  him  produced  a  deep  impression  on 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  47 

his  mind  and  forged  new  ties  of  affection  for 
England. 

It  might  sound  incredible,  but  it  is  true,  neverthe- 
less, that  but  for  a  crucial  and  heart-rending  exper- 
ience which  Ram  Mohan  went  through  in  1811,  about 
nineteen  years  previous  to  his  visit  to  the  metropolis 
of  the  Empire,  this  visit  would  not  have  materialised 
at  all.  Nor  could  the  cruel  memories  of  that 
tragic  experience  be  ever  blotted  out  of  his  mind. 
It  is  true  that  he  came  on  an  important  political  mis- 
sion that  time,  viz.,  to  present  the  petition  entrusted 
to  him  by  the  King  of  Oudh,  to  lay  Indian  grievances 
before  the  sympathetic  public,  and  to  suggest 
measures  the  adoption  of  which  would  conduce  to 
the  material  and  moral  development  of  India. 
It  was  also  true  that  he  came  to  London  as  an  Indian 
ambassador  from  the  court  of  the  Moghul  Emperor. 
That  he  achieved  unqualified  success  in  his  pleading 
for  the  Emperor  might  be  seen  from  the  grant  to  him, 
on  the  completion  of  negotiations,  of  a  settled  per- 
petuity. The  Anglo-Indian  authorities  could  not  see 
their  way  to  recognise  his  status  as  ambassador,  since 
the  King  of  Oudh  was  only  king  in  name,  political 
power  and  control  having  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  East  India  Company.  The  Indian  authorities 
further  began  to  under-rate  the  value  of  his  mission, 
by  suggesting  that  the  increase  of  the  pension  was 
already  recommended,  and  was  simply  a  matter  of 
time. 

But  the  Raja  was  an  ambassador  in  a  still  nobler 
cause.  It  was  mainly  through  his  efforts  and  co- 
operation that  Lord  William  Bentinck,  Governor- 


48  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

General  of  India,  was  encouraged  to  abolish  the 
practice  of  the  self-immolation  of  Indian  widows 
on  the  funeral  pyres  of  their  husbands.  And  now 
we  might  relate  the  incident  that  we  have  already 
referred  to  ;  the  incident  that,  more  than  anything 
else,  determined  Ram  Mohan's  visit  to  England. 

On  his  brother's  death,  the  widow  decided  to 
commit  suttee.  But  when  the  flames  actually 
touched  her  she  wanted  to  save  her  life.  The 
priests  and  orthodox  relatives,  however,  forced  her 
down  with  bamboo  poles,  and  drums  and  horns 
sounded  louder  and  louder  to  drown  her  agonising 
shrieks.  This  blood-curdling  sight  enlisted  Ram 
Mohan's  sympathy  in  a  crusade  against  suttee.  The 
cruel  custom  was  made  illegal  in  December,  1828, 
much  to  Ram  Mohan's  relief,  even  though,  to 
soften  the  acrimomy  of  the  orthodox  opponents,  he 
made  a  pretence  of  pleading  for  a  less  drastic  measure. 

On  the  abolition  of  suttee,  a  campaign  was 
set  on  foot  by  the  conservative  section  of  Hindus 
demanding  the  abrogation  of  the  new  measure, 
since  the  new  legislation  amounted,  according  to 
them,  to  interference  with  religious  custom  and 
was  a  violation  of  the  policy  of  religious  neutrality. 
But  Lord  William  was  fortunately  quite  firm.  Ram 
Mohan  had  already  made  ample  quotations  from  the 
Shastras  to  show  that  suttee  was  voluntary  and  only 
secondary  in  importance  to  life-long  chastity.  A 
monster  petition  was,  accordingly,  addressed  to  the 
House  of  Commons  by  the  conservative  Hindus,  and 
Ram  Mohan  was  anxious  lest  the  reactionaries 
should  achieve  their  object  and  renew  the  nefarious 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  49 

custom  that  was  a  bar-sinister  across  India's  shield. 
Shortly  before  his  visit  to  England,  Ram  Mohan 
Roy  founded  the  Brahma  Samaj  in  Calcutta.  A 
building  was  erected,  we  understand,  by  Ram  Mohan 
himself,  in  Chitpore  Road,  Calcutta,  and  opened  on 
the  23rd  of  January  "  To  be  used — "  so  the  wording 
of  the  Trust  Deed  runs — "  ...  as  a  place  of 
public  meeting  of  all  sorts  and  descriptions  of  people 
without  distinction,  as  shall  behave  and  conduct 
themselves  in  an  orderly,  sober,  religious  and  devout 
manner  for  the  worship  and  adoration  of  the  Eternal, 
Unsearchable  and  Immutable  Being  who  is  the  author 
and  preserver  of  the  Universe,  but  not  under  or  by 
any  other  name,  designation  or  title  peculiarly  used 
for  and  applied  to  any  particular  Being  or  Beings,  or 
by  any  man  or  set  of  men  whatsoever,  and  that  no 
graven  image  (italics  are  mine)  statue  or  sculpture, 
carving,  painting,  picture,  portrait  or  the  likeness  of 
anything  shall  be  admitted  within  the  said  building, 
and  that  no  sacrifice  shall  ever  be  permitted 
therein  (italics  are  throughout  ours)  and  that  no 
animal  or  living  creature  shall  within  or  on  the  said 
premises  be  deprived  of  life  ..  .  .  and  that  in 
conducting  the  said  worship  and  adoration  no  object 
animate  or  inanimate  that  has  been  or  is  . 
recognised  as  an  object  of  worship  by  any  man  or  set 
of  men  shall  be  reviled  or  slightingly  or  contemptuously 
spoken  of  .  .  .  and  that  no  sermon-preaching, 
discourse,  prayer  or  hymn  be  delivered,  made  or  used 
in  such  worship  but  such  as  have  a  tendency  to  the 
promotion  of  the  contemplation  of  the  Author  and 
and  Preserver  of  the  Universe  to  the  promotion  of 


50  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

charity,  morality,  piety,  benevolence,  virtue  and  the 
strengthening  of  the  bonds  of  union  between  men  of 
all  religious  persuasions  and  creeds." 

These  words  mark  only  the  first  beginnings  of 
religious  liberalism,  characterised  by  the  abolition 
of  idolatry,  animal  sacrifice  and  even  the  use  of 
"  carving,  painting,  picture,  portrait."  We  have 
as  yet  no  systematic  theology  of  the  newer  order,  no 
organisation  or  definite  conditions  of  membership. 
The  pervasive  line  of  thought  is  deistic,  tinged  with 
a  spirit  of  toleration,  and  keen  moral  perception. 
But  even  so,  it  constitutes  a  fair  advance  on  what  had 
gone  before.  Prince  Dwarka  Nath  Tagore  was  his 
chief  supporter  during  these  initial  stages.  We  shall 
see  that  whereas  the  break  with  idolatry  is  complete, 
priesthood  still  occupies  a  prominent  position.  The 
chanting  of  selections  from  the  Upanishads  was  done 
by  Brahmins  in  a  room  screened  off  from  the  rest  and 
here  only  Brahmins  were  admitted.  We  might  here 
incidentally  refer  to  the  strong  grip  of  conservatism 
even  on  a  bold  and  progressive  mind  like  Ram 
Mohan's.  During  his  visit  to  England  he  brought 
two  Hindu  servants  with  him,  in  order  that  his  caste 
might  remain  inviolate,  even  though  in  India  he 
combated  both  caste,  idolatry  and  suttee.  Then  in 
India,  though  he  freely  dined  with  Muhammadans 
and  Europeans,  he  would  scrupulously  use  separate 
tables  in  the  same  room.  The  main  thing  behind 
these  habits  was,  no  doubt,  the  honest  belief  that 
open  and  complete  break  with  orthodox  usage  might 
lead  to  complete  social  ostracism,  and  in  case 
he  lost  his  standing  as  a  Hindu,  his  reforming 


RAJA  RAM  MOHAN  ROY  51 

propaganda  might  be  crippled  through  restricted 
opportunity. 

Though  he  never  became  a  Christian,  he  loyally 
supported  the  Christian  missionaries  in  their 
educational  efforts.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  secure 
rooms  where  Dr.  Duff  might  start  a  school,  and  got 
him  some  pupils.  Further,  he  gave  assistance  to 
the  missionaries  in  translating  the  scriptures  into 
Bengali,  though  his  interpretation  of  the  original 
texts  caused  violent  disagreements  between  him  and 
them.  One  of  them,  Mr.  Adam  by  name,  was  won 
over  to  Ram  Mohan's  side.  Bishop  Middleton  once 
wounded  his  feelings  without  meaning  it,  of  course, 
— by  suggesting  that  only  if  he  became  a  Christian, 
he  would  have  the  prestige  of  the  Imperial  race 
behind  him,  and  that  "  he  would  be  respected  in  life 
and  honoured  in  death."  Ram  Mohan  never  spoke 
to  the  Bishop  again,  for  it  caused  him  mortal  offence 
to  realise  that  he  should  be  asked  to  become  a 
Christian,  except  for  the  highest  of  motives  and 
without  any  ulterior  aim. 

His  thoroughness  in  research  may  be  gauged  by  his 
endeavour  to  study  Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic  and 
Sanskrit,  in  order  that  he  might  thus  be  enabled  to 
understand  and  interpret  the  teachings  embodied 
in  the  original  versions  of  the  scriptures  of  the 
Christians,  Muhammadans  and  Hindus.  He  was 
greatly  attracted  by  the  ethical  value  of  Christ  s 
teachings,  and  wrote  a  pamphlet  called  "  The 
Principles  of  Jesus :  the  Guide  to  Peace  and 
Happiness."  At  the  conclusion  of  his  researches, 
he  said  : 


52  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


'  The  consequence  of  my  long  and  uninterrupted 
researches  into  religious  truth  has  been  that  I  have 
found  the  doctrines  of  Christ  more  conducive  to 
moral  principles,  and  better  adapted  for  the  use  of 
rational  beings,  than  any  other  which  have  come  to 
my  knowledge."  In  the  preface  to  "  The  Principles 
of  Jesus  "  he  says  : 

'  This  simple  code  of  religion  and  morality  is  so 
admirably  calculated  to  elevate  men's  ideas  to  high 
and  liberal  notions  of  one  God  .  .  .  and  is  also 
well-fitted  to  regulate  the  conduct  of  the  human  race 
in  the  discharge  of  their  various  duties  to  God,  to 
themselves  and  to  society,  that  I  cannot  but  hope 
the  best  effects  from  its  promulgation  in  the  present 
form." 

He  never  returned  to  India  from  his  English  visit. 
His  last  remains  were  laid  to  rest  in  a  quiet  cemetery 
in  Bristol,  where  a  few  friends  gathered  to  show 
honour  to  one  whose  greatness  was  unique. 

Curiously  enough,  in  spite  of  his  attempts  to  resist 
the  complete  Westernisation  of  Indian  religions  and 
society,  his  vision  of  the  India  of  the  future  was  that 
of  a  Christian  India,  industrialised,  socially  eman- 
cipated and  self-governing.  Perhaps  he  felt  that 
the  tide  of  Western  influence  would  carry  everything 
before  it.  Some  of  his  efforts  are  bearing  fruit,  but 
the  vision  of  a  Christianised  India  seems  yet  to  be  a 
long  way  off  from  realisation. 


Ill 

KESHAB   CHANDRA    SEN 
(1838-1884) 

"  India  will  attain  tme  greatness  and  civilisation  if  only  the 
basis  on  which  we  build  this  vast  fabric  is  national  and  firm. 
.  .  .  In  fact  nothing  but  fearless  and  disinterested  patriot- 
ism, regulated  and  sustained  by  keen  sense  of  duty  will  save 
Indian  society  from  the  evils  under  which  it  is  groaning,  or 
guard  it  against  new  evils.  Every  man  who  has  paid  any 
attention  to  the  social  condition  of  India  must  admit  that 
it  is  impossible  to  ensure  the  real  welfare  of  the  country  unless 
and  until  caste  is  wholly  eradicated,  for  it  is  this  that  prevents 
the  realisation  of  the  spirit  of  true  Brotherhood." — 

KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN. 

"  Oh  !  may  that  blessed  day  soon  come  when  the  earth, 
untrod  by  sect,  or  creed,  or  clan,  shall  own  the  two  great 
principles — the  universal  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother- 
hood of  man." — Ibid. 

AFTER  the  death  of  Raja  Rama  Mohan  Roy  in 
Bristol  in  1833,  the  Brahma  Samaj  was  indeed  in  a 
precarious  position,  and  but  for  the  munificent 
generosity  of  Prince  Dwarka  Nath  Tagore — Sir 
Rabindra  Nath's  grandfather — would  have  died  a 
natural  death.  But  even  more  valuable  than  the 
financial  assistance  given  by  Dwarka  Nath  Tagore 
and  Rama  Mohana  s  other  colleagues  and  supporters, 
was  the  perfervid  devotion  and  saintliness  of 
Mahanshi  Debendra  Nath  Tagore  (1817-1905).  But 
a  young  man  of  nineteen  was  soon  to  appear  on  the 

53 


54  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

scene,  destined  to  eclipse  the  achievements  of  the 
Founder  of  the  Samaj  and  even  those  of  the  saintly 
patriarch,  Debendra  Nath.  We  refer  to  Keshab 
Chandra  Sen,  who  soon  after  admission  to  the  Samaj 
took  both  the  leaders  and  the  rank  and  file  by  storm, 
by  virtue  of  his  great  abilities,  his  moving  eloquence 
and  profound  spirituality. 

Sen  had  received  an  excellent  education  along 
modern  lines  in  Calcutta  and  came  of  a  Vishnuite 
family  of  Vaidya  caste.  He  had  great  personal 
attractiveness,  and  had  the  rare  gift  of  compelling 
the  loyalty  of  friends  and  the  admiration  of 
opponents.  The  charm  of  his  manners  combined 
with  his  personality  and  a  commanding,  highly 
intelligent  expression  gave  him  a  unique  place 
in  the  Samaj. 

Till  1859  we  find  him  attending  public  meetings 
of  the  Brahma  Samaj  and  taking  part  in  the  dis- 
cussions. But  it  was  in  1861,  that  being  convinced 
that  there  was  ample  scope  for  whole-hearted 
devotion  to  the  cause,  he  resigned  a  lucrative 
situation  he  held  in  the  Bank  of  Bengal  and  induced 
his  friends  to  make  similar  sacrifices,  in  order  that 
they,  like  him,  might  concentrate  on  the  work  waiting 
for  them.  Before  taking  this  decisive  step,  however, 
Keshab  had  founded,  the  year  before,  the  Sangat 
Sabha  or  "  An  Association  for  Religious  Fellowship." 
In  connection  with  this  association,  weekly  meetings 
for  devotional  exercises  were  held,  and  the  customs 
and  ceremonials  of  Hinduism  were  freely  and  frankly 
discussed.  Thus  the  members  seriously  considered 
how  far  it  would  be  consistent  with  the  progressive 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  55 

ideals  of  the  Brahma  Samaj  to  incorporate  in  its 
worship  idolatrous  sacraments  observed  by  the 
orthodox,  unreformed  Hinduism.  It  is  a  matter  of 
common  knowledge  that  at  the  time  of  birth, 
marriage  or  death  certain  rituals  are  practised,  which 
have  an  idolatrous  and  superstitious  basis.  It  was 
decided  that  these  should  be  repudiated  by  the 
Samaj  unconditionally.  The  Brahmins,  whether 
priests  or  otherwise  were  enjoined  to  discard  the 
sacred  thread,  worn  by  the  twice-born.  Further, 
priestly  offices  were  thrown  open  to  non-Brahmins 
for  the  first  time.  The  right  of  reading  the  Vedas 
and  the  Upanishads  was  conceded  to  every  Brahma  ; 
caste  was  denounced  as  an  unworthy  and  degrading 
restriction ;  inter-caste  marriages  were  definitely 
encouraged  ;  widow-remarriages  became  an  impor- 
tant plank  in  the  progressive  propaganda,  and  the 
older  leaders  took  alarm  lest  the  vigorous  advocacy 
of  social  reform  might  undermine  the  foundations 
of  the  Hindu  religion.  Durga-puja  and  Kali-puja 
were  given  up,  and  the  chamber  in  the  Tagore  resi- 
dence where  the  idol  stood,  soon  became  a  room 
where  people  met  for  prayer  and  spiritual  exercises. 

But  the  conservatism  of  the  older  leaders  was  a 
formidable  barrier  to  sound  and  substantial  progress. 
It  was  Debendra  Nath  Tagore  who  was,  so  far, 
really  a  pillar  of  the  infant  church,  who  opposed 
strenuous  resistance  to  suggestions  in  the  direction 
of  widow-remarriage,  renunciation  of  caste  and  the 
initiation  of  non-Brahmins  to  priestly  functions. 
Though  by  nature  liberal-minded,  he  was  averse 
to  drastic  reform,  and  would  hesitate  at  each  point 


6  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

b.Jore  accepting  anything  that  threatened  a  break 
with  the  Hindu  continuity.  Besides,  he  felt  that 
the  time  for  sweeping  reforms  was  not  yet.  What 
the  Samaj  needed,  according  to  him,  was  quiescence 
of  spirit,  but  not  social  reform. 

Shortly  before,  the  Maharishi  (literally  "  great 
seer  or  sage  ")  had  passed  through  a  critical  experi- 
ence that  left  a  profound  impression  on  him  and  made 
him,  more  and  more,  other-worldly  and  austere  in  his 
habits.  He  would  fall  back  on  communion  with 
the  Infinite  mind  as  a  most  delightful  exercise,  and 
compared  to  the  beatific  vision  that  contemplation 
conjured  up  for  him,  every  other  activity  would  pale 
into  insignificance.  He  was  thus  spiritually  in 
direct  lineal  descent  from  the  famous  ascetics  of  the 
Vedanta,  whose  supreme  joy  has  been  the  recognition 
of  the  soul's  identity  with  Brahma,  who  have  felt 
that  this  could  be  achieved  only  through  meditation 
and  giving  up  temporal  entanglements,  and  whose 
absorption  in  God  has  left  comparatively  little  room 
for  other  activities. 

The  consequence  was  that  the  moment  Keshab 
Chandra  Sen  was  appointed  minister  of  the  Samaj — 
somewhere  between  1861  and  1862 — Tagore  was 
convinced  that  this  meant  unwarranted  violation  of 
Brahmanic  rights  and  Ishvara  Chandravidyasagar, 
the  stout  protagonist  of  Hindu  widows,  and  he  at 
once  severed  their  connection  with  the  Samaj,  and 
established  a  short-lived  society  called  the  Upasana 
Samaj. 

Keshab  had  come  under  strong  Christian  influences, 
and  had  a  vivid  sense  of  sin  and  the  need  for  moral 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  57 

,  regeneration.  The  person  and  character  of  Christ 
held  him  in  complete  thrall,  and  he  felt  that  without 
developing  the  ethical  side  of  religion  mere  contem- 
plative exercise  and  a  quietistic  fatalism  would  lead 
to  nowhere.  He  strove  to  press  on  the  minds  of  his 
adherents  the  urgent  claims  of  philanthropic  service 
and  social  co-operation,  without  which  religion  would 
degenerate  into  formalism  and  be  barren  of  permanent 
results.  No  doubt,  his  mind  must  have  been 
steeped  in  these  practical  ideas  during  his  school  and 
college  days,  as  a  direct  result  of  coming  into  contact 
with  European  literature  and  history  :  but  we  see  no 
reason  why  he  should  not  be  given  credit  for  initiative 
in  these  matters,  or  for  possessing  the  genius  for 
practical  things,  since  it  is  grossly  misleading  to 
assert  that  in  India,  only  contemplation  is  in  vogue 
and  practical  activities  are  under  a  ban.  Nothing 
can  be  remoter  from  the  truth.  All  that  we  are 
justified  in  saying  is  that  certain  duties  and  functions 
have  been  allocated  to  certain  classes  or  castes  ;  and 
that  even  stages  have  been  specified  during  which 
certain  activities  should  either  be  given  full  sway  or 
completely  suspended. 

In  1865  we  notice  that  these  differences  between 
the  mentality  of  Keshab  and  Debendra  came 
to  a  head  ;  all  the  property  of  the  Samaj  was 
left  in  control  of  the  latter  ;  while  Keshab  would 
have  none  of  the  recrudescence  of  what  he  would 
consider  reactionary  and  nefarious  rituals,  and  with- 
drew with  all  his  influential  and  progressive  following. 
This  split  depressed  Keshab,  since  he  greatly  rever- 
enced Tagore,  who  was,  in  turn,  attached  to  him. 


58  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Thus  the  schism  grew  and  permanently  divided  the 
Samaj  between  the  Adi  Brahma  Samaj  (i.e.,  original) 
and  the  Sadharana  section  (i.e.,  universal).  The 
attitude  of  the  former  section  towards  caste  and  other 
Hindu  ceremonies  is  uncertain,  much  being  left  to 
the  private  judgment  and  discretion  of  individual 
believers,  the  avowed  object  of  maintaining  this 
neutrality  being  to  get  greater  support  from  the 
orthodox  masses  and  preserve  intact  the  Hindu 
sanctions  behind  social  phenomena.  At  the  time  this 
controversy  arose  there  were  fifty  Samaj es  in  B  engal, 
four  in  North  India  and  one  in  Madras. 

Keshab,  soon  after,  travelled  as  far  as  Bombay  and 
Madras  and  preached  his  views,  the  result  being 
that  the  Vedic  Samaj  was  established  in  Madras 
which  years  later  assumed  the  name  of  the  Madras 
Brahma  Samaj,  and  the  Society  founded  in 
Bombay  developed  in  1867,  into  the  Prarthana 
Samaj  of  Bombay,  under  the  distinguished  leader- 
ship of  such  champions  of  liberal  religion  as  the  iate 
Mr.  Justice  Ranade,  Sir  Narayan  Chandavarkar, 
Sir  R.  G.  Bhandarkar  and  others.  But  the 
Prarthana  Samaj  is  really  the  seal  of  Keshab' s 
apostolate,  for  he  it  was  who  drew  the  attention  of 
thoughtful  men  to  the  great  need  for  liberalising 
religion  and  for  infusing  new  fervour  and  reforming 
zeal  into  the  minds  of  those  accustomed  to  caste- 
ridden,  dogma-ridden  and  priest-ridden  Hinduism. 
But  Keshab  also  realised  the  need  of  a  permanent 
organisation  built  round  the  nucleus  of  his  main 
ideas. 

Keshab' s  spiritual  life  derived  the  mainsprings  of 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  59 

its  enthusiasm  from  his  unbounded  fascination  for 
the  person  and  character  of  Christ,  and  from  his  deep 
conviction  that  all  religious  development  must  lead 
to  ethical  discipline  and  the  cultivation  of  a  high 
standard  of  character.  He  also  realised  the  need 
for  developing  a  communal  consciousness  instead 
of  a  mere  individualistic  pursuit  of  religious  ends, 
apart  from  the  recognition  of  the  obligations  of 
the  commonweal.  His  religious  culture  was  mainly 
built  up  through  his  constant  study  of  the  Bible — 
a  duty  which  he  would  always  enjoin  on  fellow- 
worshippers — and  his  familiarity  with  books  like 
Seeley's  "  Ecce  Homo,"  Liddon's  "  Divinity  of  our 
Lord,"  "  Theologica  Germanica,"  the  numerous 
publications  of  the  Christian  Literature  Society,  and 
exposition  of  Christian  doctrine  by  his  professors 
while  at  College,  assisted  no  doubt  by  his  religious 
genius  and  the  sympathetic  attitude  towards  Christi- 
anity bequeathed  by  the  magnanimous  leaders  that 
had  gone  before. 

But  it  is  inaccurate  and  misleading  to  say  that 
Keshab  had,  without  any  exercise  of  the  critical 
faculty,  accepted  the  doctrinal  position  as  expounded 
by  the  missionary  pathfinders,  of  the  stamp  of  Duff, 
Carey,  Marshman  and  Ward.  The  Christian  position 
formulated  by  these  noble  pioneers  was  crude, 
extremely  bigoted,  and  hence  chary  of  any  sensible 
compromise.  It  is  true  that  Dr.  Duff  was  astonished 
at  Tagore's  belief  in  the  infallibity  of  the  Vedas 
as  forming  the  coping-stone  of  the  Adi  Brahma 
Samaj,  but  it  scarcely  occurred  to  him  that  equally 
astonishing  to  the  exponents  of  progressive  religion 


60  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

must  have  been  his  own  (Dr.  Duff's)  unquestioning 
faith  in  the  verbal  and  plenary  inspiration  of  the 
Bible,  the  Genesis  story  of  the  Fall,  and  kindred 
fossilised  teachings  current  in  those  days  in  reference 
to  eternal  punishment,  salvation  through  subscription 
to  certain  dogmas  and  the  like.  But  we  have  to 
remember  that  in  those  days  higher  criticism  had  not 
begun  its  work  and  the  science  of  comparative 
religion  had  not  gathered  up  the  fruits  of  its  elaborate 
researches. 

From  the  missionary  point  of  view  it  is  a  matter 
for  extreme  regret  that  the  pioneers  of  the  Christian 
faith  did  not  then  carry  to  India  an  evangel,  shorn  of 
its  grosser  elements  of  orthodoxy  and  error,  for  the 
period  in  which  Keshab  developed  and  propagated 
his  views  was  the  psychological  moment  when  sen- 
sitiveness to  Christian  influence  was  at  its  maximal 
intensity.  The  missionaries  could  not  then  realise 
that  in  India  there  was  no  religious  vacuum  so  far  as 
tradition  was  concerned  and  the  people  had  a 
religious  past  to  which  they  would  tenaciously  cling. 
But  from  the  Hindu  point  of  view,  the  assimilation 
of  the  wholesome  teachings  of  Christianity  and  of  its 
practical  and  optimistic  outlook,  coupled  with  the 
rejection  of  what  seemed  to  them  its  extravagant 
claims  and  narrow  views,  has  resulted  in  a  synthesis 
of  ideals  that  have  enriched  each  other,  without 
destroying  the  foundations  of  either  faith.  This 
was  only  to  be  expected  in  a  country  like  India  with 
its  immemorial  religious  culture  and  numerous 
schools  of  philosophy. 

Keshab  Chandra  Sen,  just  as  his  religious  genius 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  61 

was  at  its  highest  point  of  fruition,  came  under  the 
influence  of  Rama  Krishna  Paramahansa,  who 
believed  that  idols  are  merely  symbols  employed  to 
visualise  God,  and  that  therefore  idolatry  is  defensible, 
that  all  religions  are  true,  that  every  one  should  keep 
to  his  own  faith  and  that  the  whole  of  Hinduism — 
every  element  of  it — must  be  jealously  preserved. 

Owing  to  his  severe  penances  and  passion  for  God, 
his  great  adoration  of  Mother  Kali,  and  his  tolerance 
of  all  religions,  Rama  Krishna  had  earned  a  great 
reputation  for  himself.  Keshab  was  simply  mag- 
netised by  him,  and  would  go  to  him  frequently 
for  exchange  of  views.  Rama  Krishna  was  a 
brilliant  conversationalist  and  had  crystallised  his 
views  in  short  epigrammatic  sayings.  He  had  com- 
pletely conquered  the  sex  instinct,  the  caste-instinct 
and  the  desire  for  possessions.  Needless  to  say,  these 
frequent  interviews  somewhat  modified  Keshab' s 
reforming  zeal  ;  the  Hindu  ceremony  of  Arati  or 
waving  of  censers  was  introduced  in  the  Brahma 
ritual,  just  as  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  were 
already  adopted.  A  simpler  mode  of  life  was 
adopted  by  Keshab  and  his  friends,  much  to  the 
decline  of  the  combative  attitude  towards  orthodoxy. 

In  1869,  when  a  new  building  was  just  declared 
open  for  Brahma  worship,  Keshab  Chandra  decided 
to  take  a  short  trip  to  England.  There  was  lack  of 
organisation  in  the  Samaj  ;  hardly  any  constitution 
or  democratic  government,  everything  was  in 
Keshab' s  hands,  so  the  members  felt  that  this  would 
be  a  serious  inconvenience,  and  might  even  com- 
promise the  security  of  the  new  Society.  But  Keshab' s 


62  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

temporary  absence  during  this  critical  stage  turned 
out  to  be  a  blessing  in  disguise,  for  not  only  did  his 
powerful  oratory  and  spiritual  earnestness  draw 
round  him  notable  men  and  women  in  England,  but 
it  revealed  to  them  what  was  most  progressive  in  the 
Indian  tradition.  He  interpreted  the  heart  of  India 
to  appreciative  audiences,  in  words  that  breathed 
and  thoughts  that  burned.  Besides,  his  eloquence 
and  catholicity  of  mind  enlisted  the  sympathies  of 
advanced  thinkers  in  religious  movements  in  India. 
But  his  study  of  the  home  life  in  England,  and  of  the 
general  social  conditions  prevailing  there,  opened  his 
eyes  to  the  need  for  much  constructive  work  on  his 
return  to  his  own  country.  His  new  ideas  took 
visible  shape  in  the  Normal  School  for  Girls,  an 
Industrial  School  for  Boys,  an  Institute  for  the 
education  of  women  and  the  Bharata  Asrama  which 
he  established  for  the  instruction  of  women  and 
children  and  for  fostering  larger  ideals  of  home  life. 
This,  by  the  way,  is  a  distinct  advance  on  his  pre- 
vious views,  since  he  was  originally  opposed  to  the 
education  and  social  enfranchisement  of  women,  and 
felt  that  the  younger  men  in  the  camp  were  ardent 
radicals  and  scarcely  realised  the  danger  of  conceding 
much  freedom  to  women. 

Ever  since  his  assumption  of  leadership  Keshab 
rendered  valuable  services  to  the  Samaj  in  compiling 
a  liturgy  for  devotional  purposes,  enriching  its  ritual 
and  introducing  modes  of  worship  congenial  to  the 
temperament  and  the  general  environment  of  the 
people.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Sankirtana 
or  chanting  of  hymns  to  the  accompaniment 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  63 

of  musical  instruments,  and  Nagarkirtana  or  pro- 
cession of  singers,  shouting  and  dancing  and  singing 
hymns  and  songs  of  praise,  while  marching  through 
public  thoroughfares.  The  keen  enthusiasm  of 
Bhakti,  i.e.,  devotion  to  God  and  implicit  trust  in 
Him,  he  had  no  doubt  inherited  from  his  Vishnuite 
ancestry,  who  were  followers  of  Chaitanya,  the  great 
Bhakti  revivalist  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

It  seems  highly  probable  that  the  development  of 
Unitarianism  in  England  has  had  some  share  in 
facilitating  the  Indian  transition  to  a  pure  form  of 
monotheism.  This  seems  to  be  almost  entirely 
ignored  by  modern  European  writers  on  Indian 
religious  developments.  The  present  writer  has 
found  such  books  as  Dr.  Martineau's  "  Seat 
of  Authority  in  Religion,"  "  Principle  of  Ethics," 
"  Quiet  Half-hours  with  Jesus,"  along  with  Stopford 
Brooke's  publications  and  Charles  Voysey's 
voluminous  sermons,  in  the  private  libraries  of 
Brahma  Samajists.  Besides,  some  remarkable  books 
on  ethics  and  metaphysics,  included  in  the  University 
curriculum  are  by  prominent  representatives  of 
the  Unitarian  revolt  against  the  traditional  formulae 
of  the  Reformed  Church.  Without  doubt,  these 
have  influenced  the  minds  of  university  educated 
men,  and  given  them  somewhat  of  their  bias. 

But  over  and  above  these  vague  generalisations, 
we  know  it  for  a  fact  that  the  Brahma  leaders  in  India 
like  Partap  Chandra  Mazumdar,  Siva  Nath  Shastri, 
including  Keshab  Chandra  Sen  himself,  were  in 
constant  touch  through  correspondence  and  study  of 
their  literature,  with  Professor  Max  Muller,  of  Oxford, 


64  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

and  notably  with  Unitarian  leaders  like  Charles 
Voysey,  Edward  Carpenter,  William  Ellery  Channing 
of  America,  and  the  late  Dr.  Stopford  Brooke  of 
London.  In  fact  Charles  Voysey,  whose  violent  and  at 
times  irresponsible,  polemic  against  Christianity  made 
him  notorious  and  cost  him  his  incumbency,  used  to 
warn  Keshab  Chandra  Sen  that  he  was  shivering  on 
the  perilous  brink  of  Christian  decision,  and  Professor 
Max  Muller  would  tell  P.  C.  Mozoomdar  that  he  had 
better  continue  as  an  enlightened,  fully-emancipated 
Hindu  rather  than  formally  seek  initiation  into  the 
Christian  Church. 

We  thus  see  that  the  cross-currents  of  modern 
thought  had  mingled  their  waters  with  the  stream 
of  eclectic  tendencies  that  produced  the  Samaj 
on  Hindu  foundations.  During  an  epoch,  when 
advanced  Christian  thinkers  in  England  were  seeking 
for  emancipation  from  the  narrow  formulae  of  the 
Church  and  its  stern  dogmatism,  that  tended 
to  suppress  the  demands  of  reason  and  stifle 
the  dictates  of  conscience,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  in  India  there  was  a  parallel  revolt 
against  the  hide-bound  conventions  of  rigid,  lifeless 
Hinduism  of  the  orthodox  type.  There  was  much 
give-and-take  between  Christianity  and  Hinduism 
without  the  one  absolutely  dominating  the  other. 

It  is  very  uncharitable  to  sit  in  judgment  on  a 
great  man,  by  reason  of  one  solitary  blunder  or  error 
of  judgment  on  his  part.  And  we  shall  not  attempt 
to  do  so.  But  the  failing  of  Keshab  Chandra  Sen 
centred  round  a  vital  principle  of  reform  which  was 
mainly  secured  through  his  constant  and  strenuous 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  65 

agitation.  And  when  the  fateful  moment  came,  when 
his  sincerity  of  faith  in  the  Reform  secured  could  be 
put  to  the  test,  he  hesitated  and  yielded  to  adverse 
pressure.  We  do  not,  for  a  moment,  suggest  that 
this  fiasco  materially  detracts  from  his  great  and 
splendid  qualities  as  reformer,  missionary  enthusiast 
and  man  of  prayer.  We  are  referring  to  this  incident 
which  led  to  a  violent  division  of  counsels,  and  to  the 
storm  it  raised  as  evidence  of  the  uncompromising 
spirit  of  the  young  party  of  progress  and  reform. 

The  young  prince  of  Cooch-Beharwas  about  to  be 
sent  to  England.  It  was  considered  wise  by  the 
British  Resident  and  others  that  he  should  be  married 
to  some  girl,  socially  well-connected  and  refined. 

Every  eye  looked  to  Keshab's  daughter,  who  was 
well-educated,  but  was  only  twelve  years  of  age. 
The  Brahmo  Marriage  Act  required  that  no  marriages 
be  solemnised  and  considered  valid  until  the  boy  was 
sixteen  and  the  girl  fourteen  years  of  age.  Keshab 
also  knew  that  the  prince  of  Cooch-Behar  might 
contract  polygamous  alliances,  even  though  he 
solemnly  declared  he  would  not  do  so.  There  were, 
further,  no  guarantees  that  idolatrous  rites  would  not 
be  observed  during  the  ceremony  of  marriage,  and  in 
fact,  these  were  practised,  though,  be  it  said  to  the 
credit  of  Keshab,  that  both  he  and  his  daughter 
withdrew  when  Hindu  ceremonial  was  being  intro- 
duced. Of  course,  there  is  this  to  be  said  in  favour 
of  Sen,  that  the  marriage  was  not  to  be  consummated 
before  the  return  of  the  prince  from  England, 
by  which  time  the  girl  would  have  attained 
maturity.  But  trivial  though  the  incident  might 


66  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

seem  if  connected  with  some  ordinary  man,  in 
Keshab,  it  was  considered  as  a  symptom  of  his  moral 
break-down.  His  courageous  spirit  that  defied 
conventions,  his  championship  of  unpopular  causes, 
and  his  unique  position  as  leader  had  raised  high 
hopes  in  his  followers,  who  expected  him  to  rise 
superior  to  the  solicitations  of  circumstance.  But 
human  nature  is  frail,  and  we  see  no  reason  why 
Keshab  should  be  singled  out  for  invective  and 
diatribe,  when  greater  men  than  he  have  succumbed 
to  similar  temptations. 

This  incident  greatly  weakened  his  position,  though 
he  survived  it  all,  by  sheer  force  of  character  and  out- 
standing ability,  and  till  his  death  in  January, 
1884,  retained  unchallenged  supremacy  in  the  Samaj . 
But  towards  the  end,  his  career  was  rather  dis- 
appointing. As  his  influence  grew,  his  followers 
showed  him  respect  and  veneration  bordering  on 
idolatrous  homage.  We  have  it,  on  undisputed 
authority,  that  he  sternly  rebuked  these  sycophantic 
tendencies  among  his  followers.  But  the  sphinx- 
eyed  vigilance  of  critics  and  even  friends  suggested 
approbation  of  unbridled  flattery  and  effusive 
compliments.  Nor  was  Keshab  much  to  blame. 
He  towered  head  and  shoulders  above  his  contem- 
poraries, and  as  such  respect  and  even  homage  were 
his  bare  due.  In  every  country  in  the  world, 
including  those  well-known  for  progress  and 
democracy,  conspicuous  leaders  have  a  way  of  being 
regarded  as  "  tin  gods."  More  so,  would  this  obtain 
in  India,  where  people  are  naturally  hero- worshippers, 
and  have  erected  many  a  noble  shrine  in  honour  of 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  67 

great  men.  The  ineradicable  instincts  of  the  people 
lead  them  to  believe  that  great  men  are  gods.  We 
are  not  approving  of  Keshab- worship,  only  venturing 
an  explanation  of  what  happens,  very  nearly  in  all 
countries,  in  regard  to  great  men  either  truly  great 
or  enjoying  fictitious  or  spurious  greatness. 

Ever  since  his  memorable  visit  to  Rama  Krishna's 
shrine,  about  1874  or  1875,  Keshab  became  more 
Hindu  in  his  out-look,  and  desired  to  preserve  as 
much  of  Hinduism  as  was  consistent  with  his  mono- 
theistic position,  even  allegorising  away  some  cere- 
monial that  he  wanted  to  retain.  He  was  further 
convinced  of  the  propriety  of  attempting  a  harmony 
of  all  religions,  believing  all  religions  to  have  common 
elements  of  truth.  This  was  rather  a  "  climb  down  " 
from  his  previous  recognition  of  the  imperious  claims 
of  Christianity  and  fervent  loyalty  to  the  person  of 
Christ.  We  cannot  help  quoting  some  of  his  remark- 
able utterances  :  "  My  Christ,  my  sweet  Christ, 
the  brightest  jewel  of  my  heart,  the  bridal  adornment 
of  my  soul — for  twenty  years  have  I  cherished  Him  in 
this  my  miserable  heart.  Though  often  defiled  and 
persecuted  by  the  world,  I  have  found  sweetness 
and  joy  unutterable  in  my  Master  Jesus. 
The  mighty  artillery  of  His  love  He  levelled  against 
me,  and  I  was  vanquished,  and  I  fell  at  his  feet. 
.  .  .  None  but  Jesus  deserved  this  bright,  this 
precious  diadem,  India,  and  Jesus  shall  have  it." 
And  again  : 

"  I  say  that  the  New  Dispensation  stands  upon  the 
same  level  with  the  Jewish  dispensation,  the  Christ- 
ian dispensation,  and  the  Vaishnava  dispensation 


68  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

through  Chaitanya.  It  is  a  divine  dispensation  fully 
entitled  to  a  place  among  the  various  dispensations 
and  revelations  of  the  world.  But  is  it  equally 
divine,  equally  authoritative  ?  Christ's  dispensation 
is  said  to  be  divine.  I  say  that  this  dispensation  is 
equally  divine."  But  he  felt  that  he,  personally, 
was  only  a  humble  instrument  through  whom  the 
revelation  was  to  be  communicated  to  the  world,  and 
while  in  the  penitent  and  self-depreciatory  mood, 
he  would  recognise  his  inferiority  to  "  My  Master 
Jesus." 

"  If  I  honour  Jesus,"  he  said,  "  and  claim  a  place, 
among  His  disciples,  is  there  not  another  side  of  my 
life  which  is  carnal  and  worldly  and  sinful.  .  .  . 
Then  tell  me  not  I  am  trying  to  exalt  myself.  No, 
a  prophet's  crown  sits  not  on  my  head.  My  place  is 
at  Jesus'  feet." 

Among  other  influences  imbibed  by  Keshab  from 
Rama  Krishna  was  the  liability  to  alternating  moods 
of  despondency  and  exaltation  :  when  subject  to 
the  former,  he  would  humble  himself  in  the  dust  and 
speak,  in  the  most  affectionate  and  reverent  phrase- 
ology, of  Christ  as  one  that  forgives  sin  and  brings 
about  moral  transformation  ;  and  when  seized  by 
the  latter,  he  would  place  himself  on  an  equality  with 
the  world's  greatest  and  best,  would  speak  of  himself 
as  a  prophet  of  the  New  Dispensation,  would  claim 
special  direct  revelations  from  God,  on  occasions 
of  great  moment  and  would  try  to  lay  down  the  law 
to  his  adherents.  Rama  Krishna  did  exactly  the 
same.  He  would  refrain  from  even  calling  himself 
a  teacher  of  men,  would  gladly  listen  to  another's 


KESHAB  CHANDRA  SEN  69 

teaching,  and  speak  of  himself  in  the  most  disparaging 
terms,  but  when  his  temperament  altered,  he  would 
claim  access  to  the  secrets  of  the  Most  Highest, 
would  teach  as  if  having  authority  and  conveyed  the 
impression  that  he  had  supernormal  powers. 


IV 

SWAMI    DAYA-NANDA    SARASWATI 
(1824-1883) 

EUROPEAN  travellers  in  India  are  naturally  impressed 
with  the  stateliness  and  beauty  of  the  Taj  Mahal, 
that  noble  monument  of  Indian  art.  There  is 
another  building,  which  is  quite  likely  to  escape  their 
notice,  being  far,  far  less  imposing  in  point  of 
architectural  design  and  idea,  situated  some  three 
miles  below  Hardawar  and  built  on  900  acres  of 
redeemed  jungle  track,  that  stands  as  a  permanent 
memorial  to  the  unique  services  to  India  of  an 
enthusiastic  Hindu  reformer.  It  were  sheer  sacri- 
lege to  compare  the  two  buildings  in  reference  to  their 
artistic  pretensions.  The  institution  to  which  we 
refer  is  the  Gurukula  (literally  "  seat  of  learning  ") 
established  in  1902,  mainly  through  the  efforts  of 
Mahatama  Munshi  Ram,  a  successful  pleader  of 
Jullundhur,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  members 
of  the  vegetarian  section  of  the  Arya  Samaj.  At  the 
moment  of  writing  this  Gurukula  contains  more  than 
300  students,  about  forty  in  the  college  classes  and 
the  remaining  in  the  various  forms  of  the  School 
Department.  There  are  thirteen  superintendents 
and  a  full  complement  of  most  competent  teachers, 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  71 

who  together  with  the  governor,  Mr.  Munshi  Ram, 
stand  committed  to  vows  of  chastity,  poverty  and 
obedience.  The  scholars  are  admitted  to  the  school 
when  only  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  and  must 
remain  on  the  rolls  for  sixteen  years.  Before 
admission  they  must  take  the  vows  of  chastity,  obedi- 
ence and  poverty  and  renew  these  vows  ten  years 
later.  During  this  period,  the  students  must  be 
Brahmacharis,  i.e.,  celibates.  They  can  associate 
with  no  women  and  indeed  their  own  relations  visit 
them  usually  about  twice  a  year,  with  the  permission 
of  the  governor  and  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the 
superintendents. 

The  governor  draws  no  salary  for  his  services,  and 
in  fact  has  given  away  to  the  school  almost  the  entire 
earnings  of  a  lifetime  and  the  value  of  his  estate. 
The  teachers,  that  are  distinguished  graduates  of 
Indian  Universities,  are  only  given  maintenance 
allowance.  The  staff  work  in  cordial  co-operation 
and  in  complete  loyalty  to  the  governor,  who  has 
won  their  confidence  through  his  winsome  manners 
and  selfless  devotion  to  duty.  The  scholars  lead  a 
completely  communal  life,  having  all  things  in 
common.  Even  presents  and  gifts  brought  by  their 
parents  or  guardians  are  equally  divided  among  the 
scholars.  In  seasons  of  sickness,  the  various 
students  gladly  take  up  nursing  by  rotation.  Till  the 
age  of  fourteen,  the  pupils  are  exclusively  well- 
grounded  in  Sanskrit  and  in  the  central  ideas  of 
Hindu  philosophy  and  religion,  through  the  medium 
of  Hindi  or  Sanskrit.  As  yet  they  are  not  introduced 
to  the  culture  or  ideas  of  Western  civilisation.  When 


72  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

this  preliminary  discipline  is  over,  they  are  then 
taught  English,  the  physical  sciences,  philosophy 
and  economics  and  related  subjects,  in  accordance 
with  the  curriculum  ot  universities  on  the  English 
model.  There  is  a  well-equipped  library  attached 
to  the  Gurukula,  as  also  physical  and  chemical 
laboratories.  There  are  industrial  and  technological 
classes  connected  with  the  school  for  the  benefit  of 
all.  Strenuous  physical  exercise  is  insisted  on  as 
part  of  the  training. 

The  scholars  pay  no  tuition  fees  but  only  a  mere 
pittance  for  board  and  residence.  They  dress  in 
saffron  robes  of  the  devotee.  The  College  Board  of 
Control  had  decided  to  abolish  even  these  nominal 
charges  with  a  view  to  bringing  the  institution  into 
line  with  say  the  ancient  Hindu  University  of  Taxila. 
But  paucity  of  funds,  the  writer  understands,  was 
the  only  barrier  to  the  proposed  abolition. 

This  remarkable  institution,  whose  promoters 
rightly  believe  in  religious  discipline  as  the  bed-rock 
of  a  national  system  of  education,  is  a  living  memento 
to  the  hero  of  our  present  little  sketch.  It  is  a 
unique  educational  experiment,  combining  a  revived 
Hindu  monasticism  with  European  culture  of  an 
advanced  type.  The  main  idea  is  to  instil  into  the 
impressionable  minds  of  the  young  the  wealth  and 
magnificence  of  their  own  religious  and  cultural 
heritage,  thus  trying  to  avoid  the  mental  disturbance 
which  might  otherwise  result  as  the  central  ideas  of 
western  science  and  philosophy  came  into  violent 
conflict  with  crude  or  animistic  religious  notions. 
The  school  is  so  situated  that  the  minds  of  the  young 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  73 

are  in  constant  touch  with  nature,  the  snow-clad 
peaks  of  the  Himalayas  rising  in  proud  and  solitary 
splendour  above  the  lower  hills  at  the  foot  of  the 
Upper  Ganges.  The  students  are  thus  in  com- 
munion with  the  freshness  and  vari-coloured 
beauties  of  nature,  as  were  the  Munis  and  Rishis  of 
ancient  India,  that  were  inspired  to  write  the  sublime 
hymns  of  the  Rigveda,  long  before  the  dogmas  and 
creeds  of  a  later  priest-ridden  Hindustan  became  a 
clogging  material  to  the  flow  of  soul. 

It  is  under  these  surroundings  that  the  institution 
professes  to  train  and  equip  boys  to  be  useful  citizens 
and  religious  and  national  leaders.  The  general 
atmosphere  may  impress  the  Westerner  as  somewhat 
confining  and  restricting,  isolated  from  the  facts 
and  realities  of  the  surrounding  world.  The  institu- 
tion even  undertakes  to  provide  suitable  wives, 
sharing  common  ideals  with  the  scholar,  when  the 
prolonged  probation  and  novitiate  are  over. 

Should  our  traveller  continue  in  his  peregrinations 
throughout  India,  he  will  come  upon  another  magni- 
ficent institution,  the  Dayananda  Anglo- Vedic  College, 
situated  on  the  Lower  Mall  in  Lahore,  and  bearing 
the  imprint  of  our  hero' s  genius .  This  was  established 
in  1885  by  a  group  of  Arya  Samajists  who  were  con- 
vinced that  the  most  effective  means,  in  modern  times, 
of  preserving  the  teachings  of  Dayananda  was  not 
only  missionary  propaganda  to  which  the  Samaj  stood 
committed,  but  also  a  net- work  of  educational  institu- 
tions financed,  conducted  and  entirely  staffed  by  Arya 
Samajists.  To  keep  abreast  of  the  times,  it  was  felt 
that  the  appeal  to  the  educated  classes  could  only 


74  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

thus  be  adequately  made.  To  show  that  progressive 
Hindu  traditions  will  well  harmonise  with  the 
latest  discoveries  of  science  and  the  newest  teachings 
of  philosophy  ;  to  inculcate  reverence  for  India's 
past,  during  the  period  the  young  were  sedulously 
engaged  in  secular  learning  ;  to  enlist  the  sympathy, 
zeal  and  intellectual  powers  of  the  college  under- 
graduates in  interpreting  and  developing  the  price- 
less teachings  bequeathed  to  them  by  Dayananda, 
some  such  institution  was,  according  to  them, 
necessary.  Besides,  they  were  zealous  to  show  that 
the  Samaj  was  not  merely  a  proselytising  machine, 
but  had  outlined  before  it  an  ambitious  educational 
and  social  reform  programme.  It  was  also  felt  that 
thus  alone  could  the  danger  of  Christian  missions 
be  minimised  and  countervailed,  since  missionary 
institutions  were  not  purely  propagandist,  but  also 
educative,  organised  for  medical  relief,  famine 
relief  and  general  philanthropic  purposes.  It  is 
worthy  of  notice,  that  the  initiation  of  the  Arya 
Samaj  has  for  the  first  time  called  into  being  a 
vigorous,  aggressive  Hindu  propaganda,  with  the 
object  of  reconverting  to  Hinduism  converts  to 
faiths  like  Islam  and  Christianity,  as  also  for 
capturing  converts  from  orthodox  Hinduism.  I 
have  advisedly  applied  the  term  Hindu  to  Aryas, 
since  at  the  Census  for  1912,  they  returned  them- 
selves as  Hindus  by  religion  and  of  the  Vedic  Dharma 
by  sect. 

There  was  a  split  among  the  promoters  of  the 
D.A.V.  College  and  members  of  its  governing  bodies 
on  the  important  issue  whether  Vedic  tradition 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  75 

should  be  exclusively  upheld  before  the  rising  genera- 
tion of  undergraduates,  especially  earlier  in  their 
college  career,  or  whether  the  English  curriculum  of 
studies  should  occupy  a  prominent  place.  Rightly 
or  wrongly,  influential  men  on  the  Board  of  Control 
decided  for  English  education,  making  ample  pro- 
vision for  religious  instruction,  and  the  performance 
of  sacred  rites.  There  is  a  hostel,  attached  to  the 
D.A.V.  College,  where  the  scholars  live  and  carry  on 
their  studies,  in  an  atmosphere  that  encourages  their 
religious  ideals  and  provides  for  strict  supervision  in 
other  important  details.  Students  of  the  college, 
above  referred  to,  carry  off  a  large  number  of  prizes 
and  scholarships  every  year  from  the  University  of 
the  Punjab,  as  also  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
degrees  than  any  other  college.  No  account  of  the 
above  college  would  be  adequate  which  does  not 
pay  a  tribute  to  the  unselfish  and  patriotic  services 
of  Lala  Hans  Raj,  who  continued  as  its  principal  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  receiving  no  salary,  only  a 
bare  subsistence  allowance  from  a  generous  brother. 
It  may  also  be  mentioned  in  passing  that  admission 
to  the  above  college  is  open  to  all,  and  that  no 
invidious  caste  distinctions  are  tolerated.  Professor 
Sidney  Webb,  in  his  introduction  to  Lala  Lajpat 
Rai's  exceedingly  interesting  volume  on  "  the  Arya 
Samaj,"  mentions  the  remarkable  instance  of  a  very 
high-caste  Brahmin  and  his  wife,  teaching  "a  score 
or  two  "  of  pariah  children,  and  of  living  under  the 
same  roof  with  them.  '  The  Shuddhi  (or  reclaiming) 
work  carried  on  for  the  social  uplift  of  the  depressed 
classes,  by  openly  admitting  them  to  the  Hindu 


76  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

faith,  will  also  tend  considerably  to  weaken  the  caste- 
consciousness  that  has  so  far  operated  against  the 
"  untouchables  "  and  denied  them  the  benefits  of  a 
human  existence.  The  cumulative  effect  of  the 
Shuddhi  propaganda,  if  as  vigorously  conducted  in 
the  future,  as  in  the  past,  and  of  the  denunciation  of 
caste  in  theory  and  principle,  may  altogether  render 
impossible  the  anomalies  referred  to.  In  exceedingly 
conservative  countries  like  England  and  India,  class 
or  caste  may  not  be  quite  possible  to  abolish,  in  the 
near  future.  Yet  the  Arya  Samaj  seems  to  be 
animated  with  the  right  spirit  to  destroy  the 
foundations  of  caste. 

Under  the  aegis  of  the  Arya  Samaj  women  are  being 
educated,  and  their  seclusion  is  being  steadily  dis- 
couraged. Widows  are  allowed  to  remarry,  should 
they  chose  to  do  so.  The  untouchables  are  being 
reclaimed,  and  on  admission  to  the  Samaj  invested 
with  the  sacred  thread  that  till  recently  was  the 
monopoly  of  the  Brahmins.  Orphanages,  schools, 
colleges,  Gurukulas,  numerous  places  for  corporate 
worship,  Maha  Kanya  Pathashalas  for  girls,  these 
form  the  milestones  in  the  Samaj 's  onward  march  to 
progress.  Early  marriages  are  under  a  ban. 

All  these  wholesome  developments  are  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  great  inspiration  given  by  the  Swami's 
convictions  and  teachings  and  by  his  life.  Religious 
self-torture  is  condemned  by  the  Samaj  as  a  degrading 
penance  that  is  gross  superstition  and  has  no  religious 
value.  Shraddhas  or  food-offerings  for  the  souls 
of  departed  relatives  are  positively  discountenanced 
as  mere  animistic  rites.  Child-marriages  are  strictly 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  77 

forbidden  in  theory,  though  it  is  difficult  to  say  for 
certain  what  happens  in  actual  fact.  It  is  to  be 
presumed,  however,  that  a  large  majority  of  pro- 
gressives do  observe  the  ordinance  that  men  are  not 
to  marry  till  they  are  twenty-five  and  women  till 
they  are  sixteen.  An  exchange  of  photographs 
between  the  contracting  parties  to  a  marriage  was 
suggested  by  Dayananda  as  an  improvement  on  the 
old-fashioned  marriages,  where  the  parties  do  not 
even  see  each  other's  faces  until  they  are  married. 

The  history  of  a  nation  is  indissolubly  bound  up 
with  the  biography  of  its  illustrious  men  and  women. 
It  is  the  lives  and  personalities  of  a  country's  heroes 
and  heroines  that  profoundly  affect  its  prevailing 
ethical  standards  and,  in  fact,  call  into  being  a  new 
environment  in  which  the  masses  might  live  and 
move.  Judged  by  any  standards,  however  severe 
or  exacting,  Daya  Nanda  Saraswati,  the  founder  of 
the  Arya  Samaj  in  Bombay  and  Upper  India  was 
indeed  a  great  man,  not  only  in  the  estimation  of  his 
friends  and  adherents,  but  what  is  still  more  striking 
in  the  j  udgment  of  his  opponents  as  well.  The  Indian 
tradition,  whatever  its  failings  and  limitations  still, 
has  been  considerably  enriched  by  the  Swami's 
message  and  life-work.  It  would  have  been  poorer 
but  for  his  opportune  appearance  and  the  grand 
delivery  of  a  great  message.  Even  to-day,  the  con- 
tagious influence  of  his  virile,  independent  and  truth- 
loving  personality  is  visibly  operative  in  the  various 
activities,  social,  religious,  educational  and  propa- 
gandist, on  which  the  Arya  Samaj  has  courageously 
launched.  Daya  Nanda,  though  dead,  yet  speaketh 


78  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

in  clear,  clarion  accents  to  the  advocates  of  social 
and  religious  reform.  It  is  easy,  fatally  easy,  to 
praise  him  ;  easier  still  to  condemn  his  teachings, 
at  least  some  of  them  ;  but  it  is  difficult,  very 
difficult,  to  appraise  the  nature  of  his  services 
to  the  national  regeneration  of  India.  And  yet, 
this  task,  arduous  though  it  be,  must  be  undertaken 
in  a  spirit  that  combines  generous  appreciation  with 
fidelity  to  truth. 

The  Swami  may,  quite  appropriately,  be  called  the 
Luther  of  Hinduism,  since  he  has,  beyond  doubt, 
*  rendered  the  same  service  to  Hinduism  by  way  of 
purging  it  of  its  errors,  excesses  and  anomalies,  that 
Martin  Luther  did  to  the  cause  of  Reformation  in 
Europe,  towards  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Opinions  may  differ  as  to  the  precise 
value  or  permanence  of  the  contributions  either  of 
Luther  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century  in 
Europe,  or  of  Daya  Nanda  in  the  last  decades  of 
the  nineteenth  century  in  India.  But  there  can  be 
no  two  opinions  on  the  point  that  both  worked  for 
religious  emancipation,  for  liberty  of  conscience,  for 
the  right  of  individual  judgment  and  for  the  asser- 
tion of  individuality  against  the  cramping,  crush- 
ing effects  of  time-old  ecclesiastical  systems.  There 
may  be  nothing  inherently  wrong  in  a  system  as 
such.  In  fact  all  human  efforts  must  be  co-ordinated 
and  systematised,  before  they  can  be  prolific  of 
lasting  and  far-reaching  results.  But  the  moment 
a  system,  in  its  overpowering  zeal,  however  laudable 
that  zeal  may  in  itself  be,  becomes  a  menace  to 
individuality,  to  personal  character,  to  the  right  of 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARAS WATI  79 

interpreting  truth,  to  the  capacity  for  challenging 
error  enjoyed  in  various  degrees  by  all  individuals: 
the  moment  a  system  begins  to  extort  a  me- 
chanical obedience  to  tradition,  whatever  its 
character,  and  to  mandates  however  arbitrary ; 
to  the  fiats  of  will  exercised  by  an  interested 
hierarchy  of  priests — all  that  we  can  say,  then, 
is  that  the  life  has  departed  from  that  system.  And 
a  mere  semblance  of  life  is  worse  than  the  trappings 
of  death.  It  is  during  crises  when  bad  and 
defunct  systems  professed  to  play  the  role  of  vital 
power,  that  good  and  great  men  have  been  needed — 
and  have  appeared. 

And  history  has  a  way  of  repeating  itself. 
Luther  appeared  when  his  appearance  and  bold 
championship  of  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  Truth, 
were  badly  needed.  Daya  Nanda  appeared  in  India, 
when  it  was  time  that  the  stagnant  pools  of  a 
decadent  tradition  must  be  troubled.  Both  had 
great  strength  of  will,  tenacity  of  purpose,  personal 
magnetism  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  and  a  bold,  far- 
reaching  vision.  Both  had  their  conception  of 
truth,  limited  by  the  theological  pre-conceptions 
peculiar  to  their  respective  epochs  and  countries, 
and  both  made  a  dash  forward  in  the  direction  of 
progress  and  achieved  a  considerable  measure  of 
emancipation. 

'  Yesterday  was  the  four-hundredth  anniversary," 
says  The  Times  Literary  Supplement  of  ist  November, 
1917,  "  of  a  religious  action  which  convulsed  the 
whole  life  of  Europe  and  started  movements  which 
have  revolutionised  the  course  of  history.  On  the 


80  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

eve  of  All  Saints'  Day,  1517,  an  Augustiniah  monk, 
who  was  also  an  influential  professor  in  the  young 
University  of  Wittenberg,  in  Saxony,  affixed  to  the 
door  of  the  University  Church  of  All  Saints  ninety- 
five  theses,  or  propositions  '  from  love  and  zeal  for 
the  elucidation  of  truth/  ' 

No  less  startling  and  epoch-making  was  the  day 
when  Swami  Daya  Nanda  Saraswati,  fearlessly 
proclaimed,  on  November  I7th,  1879,  before  a 
vast  assemblage  of  Hindus,  presided  over  by  the 
Maharajah  of  Benares,  that  polytheism  was  a 
monstrous  fraud  devised  by  priests  that  were  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind  ;  that  caste,  that  iniquitous 
system  that  has  lain  like  an  incubus  on  social 
relations  in  India,  was  originally  designed  to  be  only 
a  scientific  division  of  labour  on  the  basis  of  inherited 
and  developed  skill,  and  on  the  various  aptitudes  that 
people  respectively  acquired  ;  that  ancient  Hindu 
women  were  free  and  equals  of  men,  entitled  to 
respect,  honour  and  the  fullest  use  of  their  oppor- 
tunities ;  that  only  those  could  be  called  priests 
that  were  pure,  learned  and  industrious  ;  that  social 
degradation  was  possible  only  by  reason  of  wasted 
talent  and  atrophied  powers  ;  that  social  elevation 
to  the  highest  caste  of  the  twice-born  was  open,  even 
according  to  Manu's  Dharama  Shastra  to  the  meanest 
of  pariahs  ;  that  India's  downfall  was  owing  to  her 
disloyalty  to  her  splendid  heritage ;  that  the  path 
of  salvation  lay  along  a  restored  loyalty  to  the 
priceless  revelations  of  truth  as  embodied  in  the 
Vedas. 

The  people  listened  with  tense  interest.     Priests 


SWAMI  DAYA-RANDA  SARASWATI  81 

had  mustered  in  strength  from  all  parts  of  India,  men 
of  renown  and  vast  erudition,  whose  very  names  were 
uttered  with  bated  breath.  Grammarians  and 
schoolmen  too,  that  never  tired  of  verbal  jugglery 
and  the  infinite  conjugations  of  sacred  verbs.  It 
was,  indeed,  an  ordeal  by  battle,  the  unpopular 
David  meeting  the  Goliaths  of  the  old  order  in  mortal 
combat,  confident  that  on  his  heroic  stand  hung  the 
issues  of  the  day.  A  good  deal  of  hair-splitting 
distinctions  were  made  as  also  a  brave  display  of 
sham  learning. 

Amid  ridicule  and  jeers,  the  verdict  of  the  assembly 
was  given  against  the  enthusiastic  reformer.  His 
enemies  made  an  open  show  of  his  supposed  defeat 
when  he  stumbled  upon  some  phrases,  in  an  attempt 
to  give  a  reply  that  might  have  silenced  their 
clamour. 

He  was  given  no  time  ;  so  with  loud  acclaims  of 
victory,  the  throng  left  the  vanquished  hero. 

There  are  very  interesting  side-issues  which  might 
be  profitably  discussed  perhaps  in  another  book  such 
as  :  What  part  has  idolatry  played  in  moulding  the 
Hindu  tradition  ?  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of 
idolatry  as  "  the  outward  symbol  of  an  inward 
grace  "  and  as  part  of  the  Hindu's  artistic  heritage, 
quite  apart  from  religious  considerations  ?  Does 
the  Hindu  worshipper  when  he  bows  down  before 
an  idol,  consciously  pay  homage  to  the  idol  as  if  it 
were  to  him  a  god  in  its  own  essence,  by  its  own 
virtue,  so  to  speak,  or  only  as  a  symbol  reflecting  one 
or  more  of  the  numerous  attributes  of  divinity  ? 
The  elaborate  ritual  and  the  extremely  fascinating 


82  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

though  complicated  ceremonial  of  both  the  Roman 
and  High  Anglican  Churches  might  possibly  suggest 
points  of  affinity,  however  remote  or  far-fetched  the 
affinity,  with  Hindu  rites.  Is  it  desirable  to  retain 
the  one  as  artistic  accompaniments  to  religious 
worship,  as  the  paraphernalia  of  outward,  co-operate 
devotion,  and  at  the  same  time  to  denounce  even  the 
less  gross  and  more  pardonable  forms  of  idolatry  as 
debasing,  in  the  name,  both  of  rationalism  and  pure, 
undefiled  religion  ? 

But,  quite  obviously,  the  above  issues  are 
altogether  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  book, 
which  deals  with  outstanding  facts  and  forces, 
and  views  these  facts  and  forces,  and  passes  judg- 
ments on  their  result  according  as  they  make  the 
convergence  towards  national  solidarity  easier  or 
else  thwart  and  hamper  unification. 

More  than  thirty  years  before  the  above  incident, 
one  night,  a  young  lad  of  fourteen  called  Mul 
Shankara,  born  of  Samvedi  Brahmin  parentage,  was 
keeping  a  strict  vigil  over  the  festival  of  the  god 
Shiva,  as  his  father  and  other  relations  were  overcome 
with  sleep.  The  lad  was  intelligent  and  keenly 
observant  of  all  that  happened  around  him.  But 
from  early  childhood  his  mind  was  steeped  in 
idolatrous  notions,  the  supremacy  of  the  priesthood 
and  the  omnipotence  of  the  gods  of  wood  and  stone. 
And  so,  naturally,  he  was  lying  prostrate  in  front  of 
Shiva  on  this  particular  night  called  Shivaratri 
(or  night  dedicated  to  Shiva)  bravely  struggling 
against  the  overmastering  inclination  to  fall  asleep. 
Three  days'  fasting  had  preceded  this  night  vigil. 


SWAMI  DAYA-RANDA  SARASWATI  83 

The  spirit  indeed  was  willing,  but  the  flesh  was  weak. 
The  blessings  of  the  powerful  god  for  his  reverent 
worship  and  willing  abstention  from  food  and  sleep, 
so  the  lad  might  then  be  thinking,  would  more 
than  compensate  for  the  severe  bodily  discomfort. 
Besides,  his  father's  word  was  law  to  him.  He  knew 
what  was  good  for  the  little  Mul  Shankara's  spiritual 
life.  That  was  enough  for  the  lad. 

The  boy  was  expecting  great  things  from  the 
god  he  was  told  was  so  powerful.  As  the  solemn 
hush  of  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  fell  upon  the 
place,  a  mouse  crept  out  of  a  hole,  began  to  nibble  at 
the  offerings  made  to  the  god  and  what  was  still 
worse,  began  to  run  across  the  god's  body  as  if  in 
contemptuous  defiance  of  his  presence  and  powers, 
if  he  possessed  any. 

This  trivial  incident  marked  the  turning  point  in 
little  Mul  Shankar's  life.  It  set  him  thinking.  It 
shattered  his  illusions  regarding  the  powers  of  the 
divinity.  This  momentary  vision  released  his  powers 
of  thinking  which  tradition  and  parental  authority 
had  all  but  suppressed.  And  the  boy  was  obedient 
to  the  vision,  willing  to  follow  wherever  it  led.  That 
night  was  a  red-letter  day  for  the  boy,  and  through 
him  was  to  be  the  precursor  of  a  glorious  dawn  of 
religious  emancipation  for  the  masses  in  Upper 
India,  for,  from  the  moment  the  mouse  took  liberties 
with  the  sacred  body  of  his  god,  the  boy  realised 
quite  subconsciously  perhaps,  that  the  god  and  in 
fact  all  the  gods  of  the  Hindu  pantheon,  fell  from 
their  pedestals,  humiliated  and  exposed. 

But  he  must  not  be  in  a  hurry.     Surely  there  must 


84  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

be  an  explanation.  And  who  could  be  a  better 
person  to  approach  in  reference  to  this  unsavoury 
occurrence  than  his  own  father,  plunged  by  this 
time  in  deep  slumbers,  in  the  same  temple  ?  Quite 
nervously,  with  tremendous  hesitation,  the  boy  woke 
up  his  father,  and  asked  him  why  the  god  should 
tolerate  such  gross  familiarity.  Only  to  be  scolded 
by  the  father  for  interrupting  his  sleep.  These 
things  were  not  to  be  disputed  or  debated.  He 
was  not  to  reason  why.  His  was  only  to  fast  and  keep 
the  vigil  faithfully.  If  he  failed  in  that,  he  would 
be  scolded  or  chastised.  Some  very  bad  calamity 
might  soon  overtake  him.  He  must  not  venture 
into  the  sanctuary.  That  was  for  the  hoary  priests 
of  the  ancient  gods.  And  he  was  only  a  little  mite 
of  a  boy,  with  limited  intelligence,  quite  uninitiated, 
his  little  brain  quite  inadequate  to  the  understand- 
ing of  these  deep  mysteries.  He  must  do  as  he  was 
told.  He  must  believe  what  he  was  told  to.  We 
have  heard  and  our  fathers  have  told  us  of  old  ! 
So  it  has  been  of  old,  and  so  must  it  remain  for  all 
eternity. 

But  the  boy  was  not  to  be  bamboozled  with  these 
verbal  trickeries.  The  moment  he  made  sure  that 
the  father  had  again  gone  to  sleep,  he  ran  home 
and  having  taken  some  light  refreshments,  soon 
went  off  to  sleep.  He  was  no  more  to  be  bothered 
with  the  empty  flummeries,  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance, the  elaborate  ritual  that  was  all  devised  to 
placate  this  helpless,  speechless  dummy,  the  despic- 
able toady  that  could  not  even  drive  away  a  mouse  ! 

Even  young  school  boys  in  their  earlier  forms 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  85 

might  feel  inclined  to  laugh  over  the  insignificant 
incident  that  we  have  described  at  some  length. 
Only  let  them  remember,  let  us  all  remember,  that 
this  incident  has  been  epoch-making  in  the  life  of 
Mul  Shankara.  It  made  history  for  India. 

Some  thirty  years  later,  a  learned  pandit  that  had 
drunk  deep  at  the  Helicon  of  Vedic  lore,  that  was 
anxious  to  reform  Hinduism  and  purge  it  of  the 
excrescences  that  an  ignorant  and  obscurantist 
priesthood  had  gathered  round  the  pure  gold  of 
Vedic  tradition,  sounded  forth  a  trumpet  of  defiance 
at  the  very  head  and  centre  of  orthodox  Hinduism, 
Benares.  That  Pundit  was  Swami  Daya  Nanda 
Saraswati.  Our  readers  might  be  astounded  to 
learn  that  this  protagonist  of  reform  ;  this  iconoclast 
that  demanded  the  dethronement  of  the  gods  of  the 
Hindu  pantheon;  this  impatient  idealist  that  was 
burning  with  holy  zeal  to  fuse  into  the  dry  bones  of 
lifeless  ceremonies  and  dead  orthodox  formalities 
of  a  once  sublime  but  now  moribund  faith,  the 
sublime  and  transcendent  passion  for  a  living,  loving, 
merciful,  just  and  omniscient  God — was  no  other  than 
Mul  Shankara,  the  disillusioned  lad  that  was  later 
converted  to  an  exalted  form  of  monotheism,  and 
which  faith,  he  was  seriously  convinced,  was  to  be 
found  in  its  pristine  purity  in  the  Vedas. 

,"  Back  to  the  Vedas  "  was  his  battle  cry,  as  the 
great  sannyasi  emerged  on  the  controversial  arena. 
India's  only  hope  was,  according  to  him,  to  redis- 
cover the  faith  that  was  once  delivered  to  the  Munis 
and  Rishis  as  these  were  enwrapped  in  holy  medita- 
tion, grappling  with  the  ultimate  mysteries  of  life. 


86  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Surely  in  India,  if  anywhere,  has  the  battle  of  the 
soul  been  fought  with  a  fierce  intensity  that  knows 
of  very  few  parallels  in  the  annals  of  religious 
experience.  And  these  champions  of  the  Eternal 
have  left  behind  them  the  records  of  their  mystic 
struggles  and  of  their  triumphant  discoveries  of  the 
spiritual  realm,  all  recorded  and  preserved  for  us  in 
the  Vedas.  To  the  Swami,  no  doubt,  the  Vedas  were 
the  only  revealed  word  of  God  ;  infallible,  containing 
in  them  the  secret  not  only  of  all  religious  truth, 
but  also  the  promise  and  potentiality  of  all  scientific 
discovery,  of  the  latest  philosophical  view  of  life,  of 
mechanical  inventions  and  political  theory.  But  of 
this  later. 

But  what,  after  all,  has  this  mysterious  conversion 
led  to  ?  The  students  of  comparative  religion  or  of 
the  science  of  religion  might,  no  doubt,  point  out 
that  the  learned  Swami,  in  repudiating  the  traditional 
faith  and  striving  to  propagate  the  above  ideas  had 
only  fallen  from  one  error  on  to  another.  If  what  he 
boldly  repudiated  was  erroneous,  false,  degrading, 
priest-ridden,  is  what  he  later  preached  capable  of 
vindication  on  strict  scientific  grounds  ? 

The  limits  of  the  present  book  preclude  our 
entering  on  technical  metaphysical  issues  or  our 
reviewing  the  Swami' s  teachings  in  the  light  of  the 
latest  findings  of  the  science  of  religion.  We  are  not 
primarily  interested,  in  the  course  of  these  essays, 
with  the  Arya  Samaj  as  promulgating  a  body  of 
doctrines,  but  with  the  movement  in  so  far  as  it  has 
worked  for  national  regeneration,  for  instilling  the 
ideals  of  progress,  social  purity,  nationality,  self- 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  87 

reliance  and  social  reform  into  the  mind  of  the  rising 
generation  in  India.  Judged  by  these  criteria  the 
Swami  will  continue  to  occupy  a  conspicuous  position 
in  the  muster-roll  of  fame,  as  one  who  undermined  the 
very  foundations^  orthodoxy  and  effected  a  revolu- 
tion in  ideas  and  outlook  in  an  exceedingly  conserva- 
tive country  like  India,  and  prepared  a  way  for  the 
wonderful  Renaissance  whose  varied  healthy  mani- 
festations we  see  to-day,  in  every  department  of 
thought,  feeling  and  action. 

"  Words,  words  piled  on  words  and  words  again  " 
the  sceptically  inclined  may  say  to  the  above.  They 
evidently  ask  for  signs  and  wonders.  To  such  we 
shall  point  out  the  Gurukula  in  Hardawar,  which  as 
an  educational  experiment  along  indigenous  lines 
possesses  unique  value,  and  together  with  its  highly 
gifted  and  self-sacrificing  governor,  Mahatma 
Munshi  Rama,  is  a  living  monument  to  Daya  Nand's 
life  and  teachings.  With  a  stroke  of  the  pen  has  the 
Arya  Samaj  changed  the  individual  worship  of  the 
Hindu  devotee  into  organised  congregational  worship 
of  believers  professing  a  unity  of  faith  ;  it  has  served 
as  a  pathfinder  in  the  trackless  jungle  of  Hindu 
beliefs  ;  it  has  abolished  caste  ;  it  has  demolished 
priesthood. 

At  the  magnificent  Durbar  held  in  Delhi  on  the 
ist  of  January,  1877,  when  Queen  Victoria  was 
proclaimed,  during  Lord  Lytton's  viceroyalty,  as 
Empress  of  India,  there  was  a  remarkable  man 
present  on  the  occasion,  as  guest  of  one  of  the  ruling 
princes,  who  was  destined  to  revolutionise  the 
religious  ideas  and  preconceptions  of  orthodox  India. 


88  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

That  man  was  Mul  Shankara,  the  subject  of  the 
present  sketch.  It  is  curious  that  very  few  should 
know  of  his  original  and  real  name  almost  till 
the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  born  in  1824, 
in  the  town  of  Tankara,  situated  in  the  Indian 
state  of  Morvi  Gujerat,  Western  India.  His  father 
was  a  wealthy  banker  in  the  town  and  was,  more- 
over, Jamadar  or  headman  of  the  small  village,  which 
office  the  family  held  as  a  hereditary  right.  Amba 
Shankar,  for  that  was  the  father's  name,  was 
very  anxious  naturally  that  the  son  should 
be  well-grounded  in  the  tenets  of  Shivaism,  and 
turn  out  eventually  to  be  a  worshipper  of  the 
god  Shiva.  At  the  early  age  of  fourteen,  the  boy 
had  committed  to  memory  large  portions  of  the  Vedas, 
besides  being  trained  in  the  elaborate  rules  of 
Sanskrit  grammar. 

Mul  Shankar  was  hardly  twenty-two  when  his 
parents  determined  to  correct  his  heterodox  views 
on  religion,  by  saddling  him  with  the  duties  of 
married  life.  For  some  years  previously,  he  had 
taken  asylum  with  a  kindly  uncle  who  sympathised 
with  his  point  of  view  and  let  him  do  things  in  his' 
own  way.  But  on  his  death,  he  was  compelled  to 
revert  to  the  vigilant  supervision  of  the  father,  who 
ever  since  the  memorable  Shivaratri,  was  alarmed 
at  the  boy's  persistent  refusal,  bordering  on 
obstinacy,  to  pay  homage  to  the  tribal  divinity. 
His  grief  over  the  uncle's  death  was  intensified  on 
the  loss  of  a  dear  sister  and  filled  his  mind  with 
eagerness  to  try  and  unravel  the  mysteries  of  life  and 
death  and  to  attain  Moksha,  i.e.,  release  from  the 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  89 

continuous  cycle  of  births  and  rebirths.  It  was  at 
the  psychological  moment  when  his  mind  was  fired 
with  the  ambition  to  learn  the  Vedas  and  grasp 
their  original  intention  ;  to  renounce  the  pleasures 
of  life,  to  bear  hardness  as  a  faithful  soldier 
of  Bharatvarsha ;  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
spiritual  upliftment  of  his  country :  it  was  at 
this  crisis  that  the  father  wanted  to  upset 
his  plans,  by  marrying  him  off  and  thus  killing 
his  fine  enthusiasms  by  the  hum-drum  routine 
which  such  a  married  life  would  impose  on  him. 
But  not  willing  to  submit  to  this  ordeal,  the  boy  ran 
away  from  home. 

The  next  twenty-five  years  i.e.,  1845-1870  form  a 
prolonged  probation  during  which  he  met  various 
Sannyasis  of  established  repute  for  learning  and 
piety.  He  voraciously  devoured  their  teachings, 
only  accepting  them  with  certain  mental  reservations. 
It  may  be  noted  that  on  his  first  flight  he  was  caught. 
But  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  break  away  from 
the  trammels  of  home,  and  so  ran  away  again,  this 
time  effectively  evading  pursuit  and  burning  all  the 
traces  behind  him.  One  of  the  ascetics  called 
Brahmananda  convinced  him,  for  a  season,  of  the 
truth  of  the  Vedantic  teaching  that  the  soul  is  an 
emanation  from  the  divine  and  individual  souls  as 
so  many  self-expressions  of  the  Divine  substance, 
that  the  soul  and  Brahma  are  one  ;  that  Brahma  is 
the  immanent  life  of  the  Universe,  and  not  a  trans- 
cendent God  or  Creator  who  created  the  worlds  out 
of  nothing.  But  this  teaching  was  soon  given  up  by 
Dayananda  as  unhealthy  and  unpractical. 


go  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

The  reality  of  this  world,  the  trustworthiness  of 
the  senses,  the  reality  of  human  experience  and 
struggle  was  too  visibly  imprinted  on  his  mind 
to  allow  of  his  accepting  the  temporal  order  as 
illusory  in  its  character.  Mul  Shankara  was  not,  by 
nature,  a  subtle  metaphysician,  fond  of  logical 
casuistry  and  wordy  debate.  He  was  a  practical 
idealist.  He  was  keen  on  arriving  at  some  simple 
philosophy  of  life  that  could  be  strictly  denned,  and 
whose  terms  would  bear  a  simple  and  unsophis- 
ticated statement.  He  was  interested  more  in  life  ; 
in  the  practical  difficulties  of  life,  in  the  means  of 
escape  from  the  perplexities  that  beset  every-day 
life  ;  more  than  in  some  sublime  synthesis  which 
from  the  metaphysical  standpoint,  might  throw 
ample  light  on  theoretical  problems  suggested  by 
the  ultimate  issues  in  philosophy. 

He  next  met  Swami  Parmananda,  after  some 
years,  who  was  a  sannyasi  of  the  Saraswati  order, 
and  who,  after  continuous  refusal  recognised  Mul 
Shankara  as  a  sannyasi  of  his  order,  being  struck  by 
the  latter' s  originality  in  ideas  and  deep  scholarship. 
From  that  moment  Mul  Shankara  became  Swami 
Dayananda  Saraswati.  His  one  great  obj  ect  in  asking 
for  recognition  as  recluse  of  an  established  order  was 
that  he  might  thereby  escape  the  pressure  that  might 
yet  be  exerted  by  his  parents  to  get  him  married 
should  they  come  to  know  of  his  whereabouts. 
A  recluse  renounces,  for  all  time,  caste,  home, 
marriage  and  all  other  mundane  attachments  and 
obligations. 

Throughout  all  his  wanderings  he  was  seized  with 


SWAMI  DAYA-NANDA  SARASWATI  91 

a  consuming  desire  to  come  upon  ascetics  who  would 
expound  to  him  the  mysteries  of  the  Yoga  philo- 
sophy. Perhaps  he  felt  that  through  the  exposition 
of  yoga  (i.e.,  communion  with  the  Infinite)  he  might 
attain  to  emancipation  from  the  ceaseless  round 
of  transmigration  that  haunted  his  imagination. 

In  1860,  Dayananda  met  Swami  Virjananda,  a 
great  authority  on  Panini's  grammar,  in  Muttra  ; 
an  exceedingly  able  pundit,  but  very  irritable  and 
overbearing.  He  refused  to  initiate  Dayananda 
into  his  teachings  till  he  threw  all  the  books  he  had 
on  him  into  the  river  Jumna.  But  Dayananda  sat 
at  his  feet,  patiently,  submissively,  drinking  in  his 
teachings,  once  even  bearing  corporal  punishment 
without  demur.  This  pupilage  lasted  for  two  years 
and-a-half.  Swami  Virjananda  was  absolutely 
convinced  of  the  veracity  and  reliability  of  the  Vedas, 
but  indignantly  rejected  all  later  accretions  as  so 
many  lies  manufactured  by  ignorant  and  mis- 
leading priests,  to  serve  their  personal  ends.  On 
the  day  of  leave-taking,  in  May,  1863,  Virjananda 
asked  Dayananda  for  the  customary  fee  paid 
as  a  token  of  appreciation,  knowing  that  Swami 
Dayananda  had  none  to  give.  He  asked  Dayananda 
to  go  and  proclaim  the  pure  Vedic  faith  and  combat 
Puranic  errors.  Never  was  pledge  more  loyally 
redeemed. 

Daya  Nand  was  essentially  a  reformer,  not  a 
great  original  thinker.  His  commentaries  on  Vedic 
texts  are  "  more  ingenious  than  ingenuous,"  to  use 
the  words  of  the  last  Census  report  concerning  his 
work.  But  he  felt  that,  living  in  the  modern  world, 


92  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


ms 


it  was  necessary  that  certain  pernicious  custo 
ought  to  be  given  up  and  a  progressive  mentality 
acquired.  He  was  constantly  in  touch,  when  he 
began  his  public  career,  with  educated  Hindus  who 
discussed  with  him  how  the  Reformation  and  the 
Renaissance  were  made  possible  in  Europe.  So, 
being  a  shrewd  practical  man,  he  proclaimed  to  the 
conservative  masses  that  the  germs  of  science, 
medicine,  art,  literature,  philosophy  and  religions 
were  to  be  found  in  the  Vedas  only  awaiting  maturity 
and  fruition.  There  was,  indeed,  a  certain  degree 
of  conviction  that  the  Vedas  were  the  encyclopaedia  of 
all  knowledge,  but  the  feeling  must  also  have  been 
strong  in  his  mind  that  an  appeal  to  the  past  was  the 
way  in  which  the  masses  could  be  weaned  from 
idol-worship  and  veneration  of  mere  formalism. 

Having  arrived  at  certain  conclusions  he  read 
these  back  into  the  Vedas  and  pleaded  for  unques- 
tioning faith  in  their  infallibility.  His  followers  are 
noted  more  for  their  character  and  militant  spirit 
than  for  intellectual  ability  or  wide  culture.  There 
is  a  large  proportion  of  men  of  more  than  average 
ability  in  the  ranks  of  the  Arya  Samaj,  but  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Lala  Lajpat  Rai  and  Mahatama 
Munshi  Ram,  the  community  has  not  produced  many 
conspicuous  instances  of  scholarship.  There  have 
been,  of  course,  a  proportion  of  men  high  up  in 
professional  careers  or  in  Government  service — men 
of  the  stamp  of  the  late  Lala  Lai  Chand  and  others 
— but  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  men  with  breadth  of 
vision  and  large  mental  calibre,  from  the  community 
that  might  "  rub  shoulders  "  with  Ranade  or  Tagore, 


SWAMI  DAYA-KANDA  SARASWATI  93 

Gokhale  or  Keshab  Chandra  Sen.  When  we  bear  in 
mind,  however,  that  the  Punjab,  where  the  Samaj 
has  most  flourished,  is  not  educationally  advanced, 
even  though  it  is  making  rapid  strides  now,  and  that 
the  whole  fabric  of  the  Samaj ic  doctrines  rests  on 
superficial  foundations — the  infallibility  of  theVedas 
as  the  repository  of  all  knowledge — we  shall  make 
generous  allowances  for  the  incapacity  to  produce 
outstanding  leaders.  I  have  no  intention  to  dis- 
parage the  splendid  work  done  by  the  Samaj.  I 
should  only  say  that  any  movement  that  calls  itself 
progressive,  and  yet  rests  011  the  verbal  inspiration 
of  ancient  scriptures,  and  their  being  a  storehouse 
of  all  possible  human  knowledge,  is  bound,  sooner  or 
later,  to  develop  a  narrow,  hardened  theology,  and 
produce  disastrous  reactions  on  the  mind,  be  the 
movement  in  question  professedly  Christian,  Hindu 
or  Islamic. 

We  conclude  this  chapter  with  a  concrete  instance 
of  how  the  Samaj  does  splendid  work  by  means  of  a 
progressive  interpretation  of  texts,  rites  or  cere- 
monies apart  from  the  consideration  whether  these 
texts,  rites  and  ceremonies  admit  of  such  liberal 
construction  or  not.  I  am  quoting  from  Lala 
Lajpat  Rai's  interesting  book  :  "  The  Arya  Samaj  : 
An  Indian  Movement,"  pp.  86-87. 

"  Devas  (gods)  are  those  who  are  wise  and  learned  ; 
asuras  (demons)  those  who  are  foolish  and  ignorant  ; 
Rakshas  those  who  are  wicked  and  sin-loving  ;  and 
pishachas,  those  whose  mode  of  life  is  filthy  and 
debasing. 

"  Devapuja  (or  the  worship  of  the  gods)  consists 


94  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

in  showing  honour  and  respect  to  the  wise  and  learned, 
to  one's  father,  mother,  and  preceptor,  to  the 
preachers  of  the  true  doctrine,  to  a  just  and  impartial 
sovereign,  to  lovers  of  righteousness,  to  chaste  men 
and  women. 

"  Tirtha  (i.e.,  pilgrimages)  is  that  by  means  of 
which  '  the  sea  of  pain '  is  crossed.  It  consists 
in  truthfulness  of  speech,  in  the  acquisition  of  true 
knowledge,  in  cultivating  the  society  of  the  wise  and 
good,  in  the  practice  of  morality,  in  contemplating 
the  nature  and  attributes  of  the  Deity  with  con- 
centrated attention,  in  active  benevolence,  in  the 
diffusion  of  education,  and  so  on.  Rivers  and  other 
so-called  holy  places  are  not  Tirthas." 

Most  ingenious  explanations,  indeed,  of  customary 
observances  do  these  statements  appear  to  be.  But 
how  else  can  you  combat  wrong  ideas  except  by  the 
substitution  of  right  ones  ?  The  Swami  was,  in 
this  respect,  full  of  moral  enthusiasm  and  initiative. 

The  late  Madame  Blavatsky  pays  the  following 
compliment  to  Dayananda  :  "It  is  perfectly  certain 
that  India  never  saw  a  more  learned  Sanskrit 
scholar,  a  deeper  metaphysician,  a  more  wonderful 
orator  and  a  more  fearless  denunciator  of  any  evil 
than  Dayananda,  since  the  time  of  Shankaracharya." 


SIR    SYED    AHMAD    KHAN 

(1817-1893) 

WHAT  Raja  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  the  illustrious  founder 
of  the  Brahma  Samaj,  did  for  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual rejuvenation  of  the  Hindus,  Sir  Syed  Ahmad 
has  achieved  for  the  social  and  educational  better- 
ment of  the  Muslims  of  India.  There  would  be  no 
educated  Muhammadan  community  existing  and 
flourishing  to-day  but  for  the  heroic  pioneer  efforts 
and  far-sighted  vision  of  this  great  man,  who  did  not 
see  in  the  utter  collapse  of  the  Moghul  Empire  an 
argument  for  racial  estrangement  and  enmity, 
nor  yet  a  sign  and  symptom  of  the  permanent  moral 
decay  of  his  community,  only  a  fresh  inspiration 
to  summon  courage,  to  accept  the  challenge,  on 
behalf  of  his  community,  thrown  by  the  arduous 
competitive  spirit  of  the  West,  to  serve  as  a 
pathfinder  for  his  countrymen,  to  prepare  them 
for  that  relentless  competition  through  education 
and  social  reform,  so  that  they  may  thus  be  equipped 
for  the  struggle  which  the  introduction  of  Western 
civilisation  had  rendered  inevitable.  This  would 
not  have  been  possible  save  for  the  Syed's  recognition 
that  there  were  elements  of  progress  and  vitality  in 

95 


96  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

the  fuller,  richer  culture  from  the  West,  whatever  the 
failings  of  its  commercial  exponents  and  that  the 
assimilation  of  these  elements  would  greatly  enrich 
and  amplify  the  old-fashioned  notions  of  progress. 

The  overthrow  of  the  Muhammadan  Empire  in 
India  was  complete  when  the  Syed  was  born  on 
I7th  October,  1817,  at  the  Imperial  capital  where  the 
nominal  suzerainty  and  shadow  of  the  "  great 
Moghul "  still  lingered.  He  bestowed  titles  and 
honours  ;  was  the  centre  of  attraction  in  brilliant 
state-pageants  ;  even  received  ceremonial  courtesy 
and  homage  from  the  English  Governor-General. 
But  the  sceptre  had  passed  on  to  the  East  India 
Company.  To  the  large  bulk  of  Muhammadans 
the  political  catastrophe  which  resulted  in  the  trans- 
ference of  authority  to  British  rulers  betokened 
the  downfall  of  Islam  itself.  It  meant  to  them, 
perhaps,  an  eternal  depreciation  of  Oriental  values, 
a  great  humbling  of  national  pride  and  vassalage  to 
an  alien  civilisation  not  founded  on  the  sanctions  of 
Muhammadan  law.  No  longer  would  the  exclusive 
avenue  to  lucrative  employment  be  the  traditional 
religious  and  classical  training  at  the  historic 
University  of  Patna — so  many  must  have  argued. 
The  Infidel — according  to  them — had  not  only  defiled 
the  sanctuary,  but  demanded  a  strange  and  strenuous 
discipline  in  novel  methods  of  government,  in 
profane  learning  of  a  dubious  nature.  They  had 
lost  their  kingdom.  But  it  was  still  open  to  them 
not  to  sell  their  souls  to  the  new  learning.  So  they 
sulked,  and  refrained  from  deriving  the  benefits  of 
western  education. 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  97 

Syed  Ahmad  saw  with  the  flash  of  genius,  that 
this  mentality  generated  by  the  regrettable  circum- 
stances would  seriously  handicap  his  co-religionists 
in  the  keen  competition  for  employment  under  the 
John  Company.  We  do  not  suggest  that  he  did 
not  rise  above  the  mere  commercial  aspects  of 
the  situation.  In  fact,  he  clearly  perceived  that 
the  sullen  attitude  of  the  Muslims  towards  English 
education  threatened  the  community  with  intellectual 
retrogression  and  narrowness  of  vision.  But  he 
also  saw  that  the  keen  intellectual  Hindus,  whose 
fathers  did  likewise  wield  the  sceptre  of  empire 
once,  were  capturing  many  of  the  subordinate 
appointments  in  the  gift  of  the  government,  if  so  the 
regime  of  the  East  India  Company  may  be  called. 
Whatever  to  him  personally,  or  to  others,  might  be 
the  merits  or  demerits  of  English  education,  his 
practical  instincts  made  it  clear  to  him  that  under 
the  new  conditions,  his  community  must  either 
accept  the  fresh  ordeal  or  perish.  But  there  was 
yet  another  side  to  the  question.  Western  civilisa- 
tion, whatever  its  failings,  had  embedded  in  it 
the  discoveries  of  science,  the  triumphs  of  reason, 
and  traditions  of  a  practical,  efficient  business  life. 

On  the  ethical  and  religious  side,  there  were  not 
after  all,  according  to  him,  fundamental  differences 
between  the  two  rival  faiths,  one  professed  by  his 
countrymen  and  the  other  professed  by  the 
people  into  whose  hands  were  delivered  the  reins 
of  government.  If  rightly  interpreted,  Christianity 
and  Islam  had  much  in  common,  and  rested  on  the 
common  foundations  of  belief  in  the  unity  of  the 

7 


98  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Godhead,  and  respect  for  the  patriarchs  and  concern 
for  the  moral  issues  of  life  as  preached  and  upheld  by 
Christ.  Later,  when  He  was  removed,  Christianity 
became  encrusted  with  dogmas  and  creeds  and  the 
subtle  casuistry  of  scholastics.  But  so  was  Islam  in 
the  course  of  the  centuries  hardened  into  fossilised 
teachings,  lifeless  formalism  and  mechanical  obedi- 
ence to  the  ipse  dixits  of  an  ignorant  priestcraft, 
so  radically  opposed  to  the  pure  and  lofty  mono- 
theism of  the  holy  prophet  of  Arabia.  There  was  no 
reason,  whatever,  why  the  adherents  of  the  two  faiths, 
the  one  in  its  rise,  on  the  secular  side,  to  power,  and 
the  other  in  a  sad  predicament  because  of  the  decline 
of  its  political  prestige,  should  not  shake  hands  and 
form  a  life-long  friendship,  co-operating  towards 
common  ends  and  loyally  working  side  by  side.  And 
history  has  pronounced  its  verdict  that  the  generous- 
minded  Syed  was  right,  both  in  principle  and  in 
anticipations  of  resulting  good. 

.  I  Syed  Ahmad  had  a  remarkable  ancestry.  His 
i  grandfather  was  given,  in  the  reign  of  Alamgiv  II., 
the  titles  of  Jowahid  Ali  Khan  and  Jowad-ul- 
dowlah,  being  commander  of  1,000  foot  and  500 
horse.  His  father  Muhammad  Taqi  had  so 
entirely  renounced  the  world  and  set  his  face  reso- 
lutely against  participation  in  the  gaieties  and  the 
dazzling  splendour  of  court  functions,  that  when 
offered  the  high  office  of  Prime  Minister  by 
Emperor  Akbar  II.,  he  politely  declined  it.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  influence  of  the  father's  character 
and  of  his  asceticism  must  have  produced  consider- 
able effect  on  the  young  Ahmad's  outlook  on  life, 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  99 

even  though  he  seldom  inclined  towards  asceticism 
throughout  his  career.  No  less  potent  was  the 
influence  exerted  by  his  mother.  She;  would  teach 
her  little  Ahmad  rudiments  of  reading  and  writing, 
and  before  sending  him  off  to  sleep  would  make 
him  repeat  what  he  had  learnt  in  the  day.  Syed 
Ahmad  was  evidently  very  well  brought  up,  and 
was  absolutely  truthful  and  straightforward  in  his 
younger  days,  in  his  dealings  with  everyone,  what- 
ever his  rank  and  office.  There  is  an  interesting 
little  incident  of  his  younger  days  which  would  well 
illustrate  our  statement 

It  is  said  that  Syed  Ahmad,  while  quite  young,  was 
to  be  presented  with  a  Khilat  (i.e.,  free  gift  of  gold- 
embroidered  costume)  and  was  commanded  by  the 
Emperor   to  be  present  in   time.     In  spite   of  the 
vigilance    of    his    mother,    Syed    Ahmad    overslept 
himself  on  the  day  fixed  for  the  occasion,  and  hence 
could  not  arrive  till  the  function  was  formally  over. 
Later  on,  he  happened  to  meet  the  Emperor,  who 
without  expressing  annoyance,   asked  him  sternly 
what  he  did  with  himself.     The  courtiers  that  had 
gathered   round   him    expected    that    Syed  Ahmad 
should  give  an  ingenious  explanation,  highly  flatter- 
ing to  the  Emperor.     To  their  dismay  and  horror, 
the  little  boy  looked  straight  into  the  Emperor's 
face  and  told  the  strict  literal  truth.     These  charac- 
teristics, apparently  trivial,  augured  well  for  the  boy's, 
future.     It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  inherited 
his  appreciation  of  the  inherent  value  of  right  things 
from  his  austere  and  devout-minded  father,  who  as  a 
recluse  had  not  only  turned  his  back  on  Court  favours 


ioo  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

and  ceremonial  functions,  but  even  refused  the 
Imperial  offer  to  be  invested  with  his  father's  titles. 
It  is  the  very  least  to  say  that  Syed  Ahmad  even 
when  young,  could  discriminate  between  substance 
and  showy,  glittering  unreality.  And  this  right 
perspective  in  regard  to  the  relative  value  of  things 
was  characteristic  of  him  till  the  end. 

He  early  accepted  government  service  and  won 
golden  opinions  from  English  officials  for  reliability, 
impartiality  and  a  sense  of  justice.  He  had  acquired 
a  working  knowledge  of  English  before  entering  the 
service.  But,  later,  his  frequent  intercourse  with 
officials  encouraged  him  to  follow  up  the  study  of  the 
language  more  thoroughly.  While  harnessed  with 
official  duties,  he  completed  a  book  of  considerable 
archaeological  and  historic  interest,  which  aroused 
great  interest  and  controversy  and  commended 
itself  to  the  acceptance  of  his  English  colleagues. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  like  Raja  Ram 
Mohun  Roy,  he  was  somewhat  suspicious  of,  if  not 
quite  hostile  to,  English  ways  and  methods. 
But  actual  dealings  with  the  English  not 
only  ended  the  strained  feeling  but  fostered 
respect  and  right  understanding.  He  was  soon 
promoted  to  the  office  of  subordinate  Judge,  a 
position  which  he  filled  with  conspicuous  ability,  to 
the  satisfaction  of  all. 

Like  Ram  Mohun  he  was  anxious  to  attempt  a 
harmony  of  various  faiths,  while  retaining  his 
personal  loyalty  to  a  modified  form  of  the  faith  he 
was  nurtured  in.  So  we  find  that  just  as  the  Raja 
wrote  "  the  Precepts  of  Jesus,"  so  the  Syed  with  a 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  101 

view  to  reconcile  the  minds  of  the  more  conservative 
among  his  co-religionists  to  the  essentials  of  the 
Christian  faith,  wrote  a  commentary  on  portions  of 
"  the  Genesis." 

During  the  Mutiny,  the  Syed  rendered  yeoman 
service  to  the  British  cause,  and  through  his  unflinch- 
ing loyalty,  presence  of  mind  and  contemptuous 
defiance  of  danger,  saved  many  valuable  lives  of  both 
men  and  women.  Sir  John  Strachey,  in  the  course 
of  his  speech  at  Aligarh,  on  nth  December,  1880, 
paid  him  an  eloquent  compliment :  "  No  man  ever 
gave  nobler  proofs  of  conspicuous  courage  and  loyalty 
to  the  British  Government  than  were  given  by  him  in 
1857.  No  language  that  I  could  use  would  be 
worthy  of  the  devotion  he  showed."  On  one  occasion 
when  the  house  occupied  by  Messrs.  Shakespeare, 
Johnson,  Adam  and  others  was  surrounded  by  the 
rebels  under  the  command  of  a  rebel  chief,  and  the 
lives  of  European  men  and  women  were  every  moment 
in  jeopardy,  he  plucked  up  courage,  divested  himself 
of  all  weapons  and  cash  and  headed  straight  for 
Nawab  Khan  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  his  English 
comrades,  who  felt  that  he  set  out  on  a  forlorn  hope. 
On  being  challenged  by  the  mutinous  sentries  he 
calmly  assured  them  that  he  desired  to  consult  their 
commander,  and  with  extreme  coolness  marched  up 
to  him,  assured  him  of  his  bona  fide  intentions, 
appealed  to  the  rebel  chief's  sense  of  honour  and 
asked  him  under  what  conditions  he  would  let  them 
escape  with  their  lives. 

He  exercised  such  strong  personal  magnetism  on 
the  chief  that  he  trusted  Syed  Ahmad  implicitly, 


102  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

walked  down  with  him  quite  unaccompanied  into  the 
English  Bungalow,  and  there  received  a  formally 
signed  and  sealed  document  conferring  on  him  the 
right  to  rule  the  provinces  till  the  British  returned. 
The  negotiations  being  complete,  the  commander  of 
the  mutineers  faithfully  promised  to  let  the  Euro- 
peans escape  with  impunity,  if  only  they  could 
leave  before  two  o'clock  the  next  morning.  Equally 
imposing  was  Syed  Ahmad' s  manner  of  approach 
to  Nawab  Khan.  With  cool  courage  he  addressed 
the  commander  :  "I  have  neither  arms  nor  money, 
but  please  accept  my  nuzzur  (i.e.,  offering)  by 
putting  your  hand  on  mine ;  hearty  congratula- 
tions that  you  have  received  the  country  of  your 
ancestors.  But  what  is  to  be  done  with  the 
Europeans  inside  that  house  ?  "  Some  time  after 
peace  was  restored  Mr.  Shakespeare,  the  collector, 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  commissioner  of  Rohil  Khand, 
from  which  the  following  excerpt  may  be  interesting 
to  our  readers. 

"  All  the  three  officers  (i.e.,  Syed  Ahmad  Khan, 
Mir  Turab  Ali  Tehsildar  and  Rahmat  Khan,  Deputy 
Collector)  on  whom  I  am  reporting  have  shown  con- 
spicuous loyalty,  but  if  I  were  required  to  draw  a 
distinction,  I  should  do  so  in  favour  of  Syed  Ahmad 
Khan,  whose  clear,  sound  judgment,  and  rare 
uprightness  and  zeal  could  scarcely  be  surpassed." 

Some  little  while  after  the  Rebellion  of  1857,  Syed 
Ahmad  wrote  an  interesting  book  on  the  causes  of 
the  Indian  Revolt  which,  however,  was  not  published 
till  1873.  In  this  book  the  author  urged  many  elo- 
quent pleas  for  mutual  understanding  and  study  of 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  103 

the  people's  point  of  view,  for  trusting  the  people, 
consulting  them  on  questions  of  policy  and  custom, 
and  the  fostering  of  confidence  and  mutual  self- 
respect  as  between  the  rulers  and  the  ruled.  In  one 
remarkable  passage  he  says  :  "  Most  men  agree  in 
thinking  that  it  is  highly  conducive  to  the  welfare 
and  prosperity  of  government — indeed,  is  essential 
to  its  stability,  that  the  people  should  have  a  voice 
in  its  councils.  It  is  from  the  voice  of  the  people 
only  that  government  can  learn  whether  its  projects 
are  likely  to  be  well  received.  The  voice  of  the 
people  can  alone  check  errors  in  the  bud,  and  warn 
us  of  dangers,  before  they  burst  upon  and  destroy 
us.  A  needle  may  dam  the  gushing  rivulet,  an 
elephant  must  turn  aside  from  the  swollen  torrent. 
This  voice,  however,  can  never  be  heard,  and  this 
security  never  acquired,  unless  the  people  are  allowed 
a  share  in  the  consultations  of  government.  .  .  . 
The  security  of  a  government  is  founded  on  its 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  governed,  as  well 
as  on  its  careful  observance  of  their  rights  and 
privileges.  They  are  in  every  instance  the  inherit- 
ance of  the  peculiar  race."  One  hears  faint,  distant 
echoes  in  these  utterances  of  Indian  members  of 
Council  and  their  indirect  representation  therein. 

The  vision  of  the  Syed  is  not  complete.  But  we 
must  well  bear  in  mind  that  he  was  only  a  child  of 
his  day.  Education  and  enlightenment  had  not 
then  spread  far  and  wide,  and  a  sense  of  national 
solidarity  was  then  only  germinant.  The  utmost 
political  ambition  of  the  Syed's  was  confined  to  an 
Indian  member's  nomination  to  the  Council,  to  give 


104  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

voice  to  the  Indian  point  of  view.  The  demand 
for  political  autonomy,  for  acquiring  control  over  the 
Administration  might  have  been  considered  by  him 
in  the  nature  of  sacrilege  or  blasphemy.  Nor  were 
the  times  ripe  for  it.  The  older  civilisation  was  just 
overthrown,  the  probation  along  modern  lines  of 
education  had  just  begun.  The  lessons  of  responsi- 
bility had  yet  to  be  learnt  as  also  persistence  in 
familiarising  oneself  with  new  procedure  and  modes 
of  thought.  It  is  doubtless  true  that  there  was  not 
much  to  choose  between  the  social  and  political 
anarchy  prevailing  before  the  collapse  of  the  Moghul 
Empire  and  the  rapacity  and  misgovernment  of  the 
company  whose  motto  obviously  was  :  "  Each  one 
for  himself  and  God  for  us  all !  "  One  year  we  read  of 
50,000,000  people  dying  of  famine,  and  the  next 
published  report  of  the  Company  congratulates  their 
officers  for  phenomenal  success  in  exacting  a  heavier 
revenue  than  ever  before.  Those  were  times  of 
uncontrolled  greed  and  unashamed  corruption.  But 
there  were,  here  and  there,  honourable  and  upright 
men,  with  a  keen  sense  of  duty. 

More  especially  did  the  reign  of  lawlessness  con- 
tinue unabated  when  the  Syed  was  a  youngster. 

But  the  Syed  was  fully  alive  to  the  need  for 
harmonious  co-operation  between  the  two  sister- 
communities,  i.e.,  Hindus  and  Muhammadans.  In 
characteristic  oriental  style  he  would  say  that  Hindus 
and  Muhammadans  were  the  two  eyes  of  the  sweet- 
heart India,  without  whose  joint  focussing  of  vision 
on  to  the  same  objective,  everything  would  look 
confused  and  indistinct  in  outline.  It  is  true,  that 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  105 

after  receiving  his  knighthood  in  the  reign  of 
Lord  Lytton,  he  went  back  on  some  of  his  principles, 
took  to  reactionary  views  on  Indian  politics,  out  of 
sheer  diplomacy  and  a  desire  to  cater  to  official 
vanity,  launched  a  propaganda  of  calumny  and  mis- 
representation against  the  Indian  National  Congress, 
and  swallowed  most  of  his  progressive  views.  But 
this  should  surprise  no  one.  Greater  men  than  he 
have  fallen  victims  to  official  patronage  and  paid  a 
heavy  price  for  it.  And  no  one  can  be  more  easily 
pardoned  than  Sir  Syed,  for  his  shrewd  practical 
instincts  never  forsook  him,  and  in  spheres  other  than 
political  he  held  on  till  the  end  as  pioneer  of  vigorous 
reform  and  as  one  engaged  in  the  ministry  of  recon- 
ciliation. Sir  Henry  Cotton  in  a  well-known  passage 
refers  to  him  in  "  New  India  "  as  one  who  for 
diplomatic  reasons  apostatised  from  his  ardent 
admiration  for  the  keen  political  capacity  of  the 
Bengalis. 

Some  ten  years  after  the  assumption  by  the  British 
crown  of  responsibility  for  the  governance  of  India, 
the  Syed  decided  to  pay  a  visit  to  England.  In 
July,  1869,  we  find  him  comfortably  settled  down  in 
Mecklenburgh  Square  in  London  with  his  son 
Syed  Mahmud  who  vwas  the  first  Muhammadan 
student  to  accept  a  state  scholarship,  recently 
thrown  open  to  Indians  to  enable  them  to 
prosecute  further  studies  at  English  Universities. 
On  the  i5th  October,  of  the  same  year,  he  contributed 
an  exceedingly  interesting  letter  to  the  Aligarh 
Institute  Gazette,  giving  his  miscellaneous  impressions 
of  life  in  London ;  parts  of  it  sound  almost  childish, 


io6  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

but  one  can  clearly  see  that  the  Syed  was  a  keen 
observer  of  things  and  was  anxious  to  improve 
Indian  conditions.  "  All  good  things,"  to  quote 
from  the  letter,  "spiritual  and  worldly,  which  should 
be  found  in  man,  have  been  bestowed  by  the  Almighty 
on  Europe,  and  especially  on  England.  By  spiritual 
good  things,  I  mean  that  the  English  carry  out  all 
the  details  of  their  religion  which  they  believe  to  be 
the  true  one,  with  a  beauty  and  excellence  which  no 
other  nation  can  compare  with.  This  is  entirely  due 
to  the  education  of  men  and  women.  ...  If 
Hindustanis  can  only  attain  to  civilisation,  they  will 
probably,  owing  to  their  many  natural  powers, 
become  if  not  the  superiors,  at  least  the  equals  of 
England. ' '  The  Syed  was,  from  the  very  beginning  of  his 
residence  in  this  country,  profoundly  convinced  that 
apart  from  education  the  attainment  to  a  higher  level 
of  civilisation  was  not  possible.  He  was,  further, 
convinced  that  women  must  also  be  educated,  for  other- 
wise they  can  not  follow  the  life  of  Reason  on  which 
he  so  much  insisted,  nor  could  they  be  good  mothers  or 
intelligent  wives.  But  curiously  enough,  he  would 
wait  for  the  instruction  of  women  till  the  men  were 
thoroughly  well-educated  first.  I  suppose  the 
turbulent  activities  of  the  suffragettes  were  not  in 
those  days  much  in  evidence,  or  else  the  Syed  would 
take  back  to  India  the  same  progressive  views 
concerning  the  rights  and  duties  of  women  as  he  did 
in  the  case  of  men.  But  it  is  idle  to  accuse  the  Syed 
of  hesitancy  in  the  direction  of  female  education, 
and  especially  if  we  remember  what  formidable 
obstacles  he  had  to  encounter,  to  win  acceptance  from 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  107 

his  conservative  compatriots  even  in  reference  to 
Western  education  being  imparted  to  men.  But 
through  a  spread  of  higher  education  among  men, 
the  way  has  been  gradually  paved  for  female 
education,  new  ideas  are  gaining  ground,  the 
functions  of  womanhood  are  gradually  gaining 
ampler  recognition,  and  to-day  we  see  at  the  anni- 
versaries of  Muhammadan  Educational  Conferences 
that  Muslim  ladies  hold  their  meetings  not  far  from 
where  men  carry  on  their  deliberations.  And  it  is  the 
merest  justice  to  add  that  this  happy  state  of  things 
would  not  have  been  possible  but  for  the  efforts 
of  the  enlightened  Syed  who  expected  great  things 
from  his  country  and  attempted  great  things  for  her. 
Syed  Ahmad  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  progressive 
tendencies  discernible  among  the  Bengalis  and  the 
Parsees,  but  he  sincerely,  though  mistakenly,  con- 
cluded "  that  their  pace  is  so  fast  that  there  is  danger 
of  their  falling."  But  he  certainly  showed  signs  of 
being  an  ideal  reformer  when  he  gave  vent  to  his 
pent-up  conviction  "  that  the  fatal  shroud  of  com- 
placent self-esteem  is  wrapt  round  the  Muhammadan 
community."  Another  shrewd  remark  which  bore 
evidence  of  intellectual  penetration  related  to  the 
secret  of  Britain's  progressive  traditions  as  consisting 
in  scientific  and  literary  works  being  written  in  her  own 
language.  And  in  India,  he  preached  season  in  and 
season  out  that  philosophic  and  literary  treatises 
should  be  translated  in  the  vernaculars  of  the 
country  as  only  thus  could  the  ideas  be  made  popular 
and  the  language  made  richer.  The  Syed  was  by 
instincts  and  temperament,  a  statesman  and  could 


ro8  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

well  grasp  fundamentals,  ignoring  details  for  the 
moment. 

He  watched  the  movements  of  his  English  friends 
in  London,  met  distinguished  people  in  social  inter- 
course, entered  into  the  spirit  of  their  conversations 
and  drank  deep  at  the  fountain  of  Western  ideas. 
The  idea  that  held  his  mind  as  if  in  a  vice  was  thus 
epigrammatically  expressed  by  him  :  "  Unless  the 
education  of  the  masses  is  pushed  on  as  it  is  here,  it  is 
impossible  for  a  nation  to  become  civilised  and 
honoured.' '  And  this  idea,  which  only  gained  a  vague 
and  inchoate  expression  in  Syed  Ahmad's  utterance, 
later  fired  the  imagination  of  a  highly-disciplined 
politician  like  Gokhale,  and  acquired  a  forceful 
expression  through  his  Education  Bill,  which  failed 
to  pass  through  the  Council,  but  indirectly  revo- 
lutionised the  attitude  of  government  and  people 
alike  to  the  overmastering  need  for  mass  education. 

Syed  Ahmad  had  a  keen  eye  for  the  so-called  trivial 
incidents  of  everyday  occurrence.  When  his  land- 
lady's daughter  asked  for  the  loan  of  one  of  his  books 
on  highly  controversial  religious  topics,  at  a  time 
when  she  was  rather  indisposed,  the  Syed  was  very 
much  impressed  that  a  lady  should,  even  during  a 
season  of  sickness,  think  of  acquiring  knowledge  and 
of  training  her  mind.  "Is  it  not  a  matter  for 
astonishment  that  a  woman,  when  ill,  should  read 
with  the  object  of  improving  her  mind  ?  Have  you 
ever  seen  such  a  custom  in  India,  in  the  family  of 
any  noble,  Nawab,  Raja,  or  man  of  high  family  ?  " 

Even  the  manners  and  deportment  of  his  chamber- 
maid aroused  in  him  feelings  of  disappointment  over 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  109 

the  backward  condition  of  women  then  prevailing 
elsewhere.  During  his  stay  in  England  he  formed 
strong  personal  friendships  and  had,  ever  afterwards, 
delightful  reminiscences  of  having  met  the  older 
aristocracy,  officials  and  even  the  philosopher  of 
Chelsea — Thomas  Carlyle.  The  last-named  was 
specially  honoured  by  Syed  Ahmad  because  of  his 
bold  presentation  of  the  greatness  of  Muhammad. 

On  his  return  to  India,  and  indeed  long  before,  he 
was  obsessed  by  the  idea  that  he  must  find  and 
collect  funds  for  a  college  which  might  do  the  same 
service  for  Muslim  young  men  as  the  premier  univer- 
sities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were  doing  for  the 
youth  of  England.  He  had  visited  these  institu- 
tions, had  had  long  and  profoundly  interesting 
talks  with  Dons  and  Professors.  But  instead  of  the 
impressions  being  dissipated  in  idle  curiosity  or 
excitement,  they  deepened  and  struck  roots  in  his 
mind  till  the  conviction  came  that  a  new  experiment 
of  a  similar  nature  was  urgently  needed  in  India, 
and  that  he  was  the  man  on  whom  the  burden  of 
responsibility  should  fall,  since  it  was  he  on  whose 
mind  the  idea  originally  dawned  with  such  force. 

A  few  loyal  friends  supported  Syed  Ahmad,  when 
he  expressed  his  intention  to  educate  the  youth  of 
the  country.  But  the  forces  of  conservatism  arrayed 
themselves  against  him.  He  was  roundly  condemned 
as  one  seeking  to  uproot  the  Muslim  tradition,  a 
perverse  intriguer  seeking  alliance  with  the  Infidels, 
as  a  "  lieutenant  of  the  evil  one "  who  did  not 
believe  in  the  story  of  Adam  and  Eve,  who  discarded 
belief  in  the  tradition  that  attributes  to  Muhammad 


no  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

the  cutting  of  the  moon  in  two  and  passage  through 
the  milky  way.  The  learned  Mullahs  from  Mecca 
and  Medina  fulminated  their  fatawahs  (i.e.,  decrees) 
against  him,  putting  him  without  the  pale  of  ortho- 
doxy and  branding  him  as  a  heretic  with  whom  the 
faithful  should  on  no  account  have  any  dealings. 
Even  attempts  at  taking  his  life  were  threatened. 
But  nothing  daunted  the  Syed  fought  on  with  the 
forces  of  reaction  by  gentle  exposition,  moral  suasion 
and  sheer  force  of  character.  And  he  won  the  day. 

Among  contributors  to  the  college  fund  were 
Hindus  and  Muhammadans,  Government  officials, 
and  English  friends.  Among  prominent  Indians 
may  be  mentioned  Sir  Salar  Jung  and  Raja  Shimbu 
Narain.  Syed  Ahmad  showed  consummate  tact 
and  capacity  for  work,  in  the  matter  of  collecting 
friends. 

But  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  college,  Syed 
Ahmad  and  his  lieutenants  were  anxious  to  ascertain 
the  feelings  of  the  community  and  to  gauge  their 
requirements.  So  the  provisional  committee  invited 
some  prize  essays  on  why  the  Muhammadans  were 
educationally  so  backward.  Among  reasons  assigned 
in  the  most  thoughtful  essays  were  : 

1.  The  general  disinclination  of  well-to-do  parents 
to  let  their  children  associate  with  boys  of  humbler 
birth,  and  the  apathy  and  lethargy  of  children  brought 
up  in  comfortable  homes  where  standards  of  discipline 
were  not  high. 

2.  Aversion  to  English  education  because  of  the 
misapprehension  that  it  may  undermine  the  founda- 
tions 01  faith  and  also  resentment  because  the  teach- 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  in 

ing    of    Muslim    tradition    and    theology    was    not 
included  in  the  curriculum. 

3.  Neglect  of  Arabic  and  Muslim  philosophy  in 
English  schools  ;     also  non-observance  of  Muham- 
madan  festivals  coupled  with  alleged  indifference  of 
Hindu  and  Christian  teachers  towards  Muhammadan 
boys. 

4.  The  contempt  shown  by  Muhammadans  towards 
learning  and  clerical  pursuits,  and  their  preference 
for  military  careers  or  lives  of  ease  and  indulgence. 

It  must  have  been  a  proud  day  for  Sir  Syed  Ahmad 
when  Sir  William  Muir  delivered  a  powerful  address  on 
the  occasion  of  the  establishment  of  the  college  on 
I2th  November,  1875,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said  : 
'  The  knowledge  of  history  and  of  foreign  lands 
will  correct  views  otherwise  narrowed  by  the  sole 
contemplation  of  what  is  immediately  around,  and 
enable  the  youth  to  expatiate  on  the  experience  of 
other  ages  and  of  other  nations  than  their  own, 
their  minds  will  be  improved  by  the  great  discoveries, 
mechanical  and  scientific  of  later  times,  and  their 
views  will  be  elevated  and  expanded  by  contem 
plation  of  the  works  of  the  creator  in  the  starry 
heavens  and  the  wonders  of  nature  here  on  earth." 

Still  more  eloquent  and  inspiring  was  the  address  of 
Lord  Lytton,  then  Viceroy  of  India,  who  laid  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  College  on  8th  January,  1877, 
and  in  the  course  of  his  address  said  : 

'  You  will,  I  am  sure,  be  the  last  to  admit  that 
anything  in  the  creed  of  Islam  is  inconsistent  with 
intellectual  culture.  The  greatest  and  most 
enduring  conquests  of  the  Muhammadan  races  have 


H2  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

all  been  achieved  in  the  fields  of  literature,  science 
and  art.  Not  only  have  they  given  to  a  great  portion 
of  this  continent  an  architecture  which  is  still  the 
wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world,  but  in  an  age 
when  the  Christian  societies  of  Europe  had  barely 
emerged  out  of  intellectual  darkness  and  social 
barbarism,  they  covered  the  whole  Iberian  peninsula 
with  schools  of  medicine,  of  mathematics  and  philo- 
sophy, far  in  advance  of  all  contemporary  science  ; 
and  to  this  day  the  populations  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
for  their  very  sustenance  are  mainly  dependent  on 
the  past  labours  of  Moorish  engineers.  .  .  .  The 
modern  culture  of  the  West  is  now  in  a  position  to 
repay  the  great  debt  owed  by  it  to  the  early  wisdom 
of  the  East/' 

In  1903,  there  were  703  pupils  in  the  College  of 
whom  531  are  boarders,  in  the  year  1918  the  number 
of  students  enrolled  exceeds  1,200. 

The  Pioneer  of  Allahabad  expressed  the  view  in  its 
leading  article  of  8th  January,  1876,  that 

'  The  ceremony  which  takes  place  to-day  at 
Aligarh  marks  the  great  progress  already  made  by 
one  of  the  most  thoroughly  sound  and  progressive 
movements  ever  set  on  foot  for  the  advancement  of 
Indian  education.  The  name  of  Syed  Ahmad  Khan, 
the  principal  promoter  of  the  Muhammadan  Anglo- 
Oriental  College,  will  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance 
in  the  future  by  large  masses  of  his  countrymen,  who 
may  as  yet  hardly  appreciate  the  importance  of  the 
influence  he  has  brought  to  bear  upon  their  intel- 
lectual and  political  development.  The  rising 
college  bids  far  to  be  a  real  force  in  this  country,  and 


SIR  SYED  AHMAD  KHAN  113 

its  expansion  is  guaranteed  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
entirely  spontaneous  in  its  growth — the  fruit,  that 
is  to  say,  of  purely  native  sagacity  and  determination, 
in  no  way  an  exotic  institution,  planted  by  Govern- 
ment and  watered  by  official  favour." 

Syed  Ahmed  published  a  series  of  essays  on  the 
life  of  Muhammad  in  1870.  He  was  very  fond  of 
combating,  by  means  of  persuasive  arguments,  the 
assumption  of  western  scholars  that  Islam  was  a 
religion  that  strove  to  propagate  itself  with  the 
help  of  the  sword.  "  The  remark  that  the  sword  is  the 
inevitable  penalty  for  the  denial  of  Islam,"  he 
would  say,  "  is  one  of  the  gravest  charges  falsely 
imputed  to  this  faith  by  professors  of  other  religions, 
and  arises  from  the  utter  ignorance  of  those  that  make 
the  accusation.  Islam  inculcates  and  demands  a 
hearty  and  sincere  belief  in  all  that  it  teaches  ; 
and  that  genuine  faith  which  proceeds  from  a  person's 
heart  not  by  force  or  violence.  Judicious  readers  will 
not  fail  to  observe  that  the  above-quoted  remark  is 
entirely  contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Moslem  faith,  wherein  it  is  inculcated  in  the  clearest 
language  possible :  '  Let  there  be  no  forcing  in 
religion,  the  right  way  has  been  clearly  made  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  wrong  one.'  " 

The  Syed  was  very  much  under  the  influence  of 
Wahabis  whom  he  strove  to  defend  from  bigoted 
partisan  attacks,  and  who  believed  in  the  immediate 
access  of  the  soul  to  God,  and  repudiated  miracles, 
priestcraft  and  saint-worship. 

The  Aligarh  College  has  had  the  good  fortune  of 
securing  the  services  of  such  eminent  Anglo-Indians 


H4  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

as  Dr.  T.  W.  Arnold,  the  learned  author  of  "  The 
Preaching  of  Islam"  and  at  present  secretary  to 
Indian  students,  at  the  India  Office  in  Whitehall;  Mr. 
Theodore  Beck,  and  Sir  Theodore  Morison  late  of 
the  Council  of  India,  and  author  of  the  "  Economic 
Transition  in  India  "  and  other  Books. 

His  college  has  been  sending  out  a  continuous 
stream  of  cultured  Muhammadan  gentlemen,  and  has 
been  a  centre  of  attraction  for  Moslems  from  the 
various  parts  of  the  world,  including  Mombasa  and 
Zanzibar.  And  surely  the  Hindu-Muhammadan 
entente  of  to-day,  which  is  the  evidence  of  wholesome 
political  growth  in  India,  could  not  be  possible  save 
for  the  enlightenment  of  the  Moslem  youth,  for, 
beyond  doubt,  education  is  the  sheet  anchor  of 
political  aspirations. 


VI 
DADABHOY   NAOROJI 

(1821-1917) 

THE  distinctive  value  of  Naoroji's  services  to  India 
arises  from  the  fact  of  his  membership  of  the  Parsee 
community,  which  though  commercially  enter- 
prising, has  assumed,  from  time  to  time,  an  attitude 
of  aloofness  from  Indian  political  demands.  Nor 
is  this  greatly  to  be  wondered  at.  Ever  since  their 
escape  from  Persia,  owing  to  bitter  religious  perse- 
cutions, the  Parsees  have  discovered  in  the  stability 
of  the  British  Government  and  in  its  policy  of 
I  religious  neutrality,  a  guarantee  of  success  in  com- 
I  merce  and  of  tolerance  in  matters  of  religion.  And 
throughout  their  domicile  in  India  as  British  subjects 
their  extreme  religious  conservatism,  habits  of  social 
exclusiveness  and  the  profession  of  an  alien  faith, 
that  with  all  its  beautiful  teachings  has  not  much 
surface  kinship  with  either  Hinduism  or  Islam,  has 
tended  to  drive  them  apart  from  the  two  great  sister 
communities  in  India.  It  is  quite  probable,  further, 
that  intensive  specialisation  in  business  and  commer- 
cial activities  has,  in  the  community  as  such, 
atrophied  the  political  fervour  which  springs  from 
altruistic  idealism. 

«5 


n6  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

But  though  the  community  as  such  has  so  far  failed 
to  evolve  a  political  organisation,  and  to  declare  the 
harmony  of  its  ideals  with  those  of  the  more  progres- 
sive ones,  yet  it  has  contributed  to  the  National  cause 
in  India,  men  of  outstanding  intellectual  vigour  and 
political  enthusiasm.  Names  like  those  of  the  late 
Sir  Pheroz  Shah  Mehta,  of  Sir  Dinshaw  Edulji  Wacha 
and  of  B.  P.  Wadia,  of  the  Home  Rule  for  India 
League,  are  names  to  conjure  with  in  political  India. 
And  we  may  in  passing  just  casually  mention  that 
India's  gratitude  for  Mr.  B.  P.  Wadia' s  services  has 
been  greatly  enhanced  by  his  internment,  some 
months  ago,  for  his  strenuous  activities  in  connection 
with  Mrs.  Annie  Besant's  recently  launched  Home 
Rule  propaganda. 

Among  the  Nation-builders  which  this  community 
has  produced,  Dadabhai  Naoroji  stands  head  and 
shoulders  above  the  most  enlightened  and  patriotic 
of  his  countrymen.  It  is  to  his  lasting  credit  that 
during  his  Presidential  Address  at  the  Indian 
National  Congress  at  Calcutta  in  1907,  he  for  the  first 
time  formulated  and  expressed  the  ideal  of  Home 
Rule,  an  ideal  which  till  then  was  quite  alien  to  the 
constitutional  schemes  adopted. 

He  tells  us  of  his  earlier  experiences  at  school,  when 
it  was  a  matter  of  comparative  indifference  to  his 
teachers  what  the  boys  did  with  their  time  or  studies. 
In  fact,  the  two  English  teachers  of  the  School  in 
Bombay  which  Naoroji  attended  had  quite  enough 
on  hand  by  way  of  composing  their  own  differences, 
to  discourage  their  "  haymaking "  or  playing 
truant.  But  in  spite  of  this  lax  discipline,  Naoroji 


DADABHOY  NAOROJI  117 

would  always  manage  to  come  out  "  top "  and 
with  a  naive,  almost  childish,  simplicity,  he  tells  us 
of  how  he  would  get  the  plaudits  of  the  crowd, 
while  repeating  aloud  the  long  multiplication  tables, 
in  those  days  a  favourite  exercise  in  mental 
gymnastics,  or  while  marching  in  procession  or 
attending  social  gatherings,  in  his  brilliant,  gold- 
embroidered  gala  dress.  Some  of  these  school-time 
memories  stood  out  so  vividly  in  his  mind  that  when 
in  1893,  he  formed  one  of  the  Deputation  of  the 
Imperial  Institute  that  was  to  wait  on  Queen  Victoria, 
he  was  at  once  reminded  of  the  associations  of  early 
manhood  in  Bombay. 

From  very  early  years,  Naoroji  formed  habits  of 
temperance  and  sobriety  and  till  the  day  of  his 
death  was  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  Anglo-Indian 
Temperance  propaganda.  A  very  trifling  incident 
determined  his  conversion  to  teetotalism.  It  was 
the  constant  practice  in  his  home  that  they  should 
take  some  wine  before  the  evening  meal  commenced. 
One  evening,  the  supply  of  wine  ran  out  and 
Dadabhoy's  mother  sent  the  boy  round  the  corner, 
to  fetch  some  from  the  nearest  "  pub."  The  boy 
felt  so  abashed  and  humiliated  that  he  should  enter 
a  place  which  he  regarded,  in  spite  of  his  wine- 
bibbing  habits,  as  disreputable,  that  he  solemnly 
resolved  never  to  touch  the  "  accursed  drink !  " 

His  mother's  influence,  likewise,  helped  him  in 
acquiring  habits  of  chaste  and  refined  speech,  when 
he  was  quite  a  little  boy,  and  he  had  a  horror  of 
hearing  profane  language  used  by  schoolfellows  and 
others,  always  reminding  them,  whenever  occasion 


n8  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


arose,  that  their  improper  language  "  would  return 
unto  them."  This  in  itself  may  sound  rather 
prosaic,  since  the  acquiring  of  this  habit  is  encour- 
aged in  all  decent  homes,  being  considered  an 
essential  preliminary  to  good  upbringing.  But  in 
Naoroji's  case  his  habits  of  temperate  speech  left  an 
imprimatur  on  all  his  political  utterances,  later  in 
life,  so  that  we  shall  look  in  vain,  had  we  time 
enough  to  ransack  his  voluminous  speeches,  for  a 
single  outburst  of  uncontrolled  emotion,  or  irrita- 
bility in  temper.  The  gentlemanly  instincts  early 
ingrained  in  his  character,  seldom  forsook  him 
during  the  fiery  ordeals  of  later  life  ;  and  in  Naoroji's 
case  it  has  been  a  militant  life  throughout  ;  fighting 
now  for  the  spread  of  education  in  his  country  ; 
now  for  the  brushing  aside  of  racial  and  political 
discriminations  ;  and  then  again  for  the  inauguration 
of  a  policy  of  conciliation  and  trust. 
/  Naoroji  came  of  a  poor  but  highly  respectable 
family,  and  were  it  not  for  the  generosity  of  the 
Camas — another  Parsee  family — in  supplying  him 
with  books,  and  even  at  times  helping  towards  the 
payment  of  his  fees,  Naoroji  would  have  been 
deprived  of  his  education,  and  thus  hindered  from 
being  the  bulwark  of  strength  to  the  Indian  cause. 
The  realisation  that  poverty  may,  in  numerous 
instances,  prove  a  formidable  bar  to  equipping  oneself 
for  the  severe  discipline  of  life,  assumed  in  Naoroji  the 
force  of  an  irresistible  conviction,  in  no  wise  diminished, 
even  when  his  career  marked  the  zenith  of  successful 
achievement,  by  the  comforting  thought  that  in  his 
own  case  the  kindness  of  friends  helped  him  tide  over 


DADABHOY  NAOROJI  119 

many  a  difficulty.     In  fact,  throughout  his  long  and 
honourable  career,  almost  overcrowded  with  varied 
and    assiduous    activities,    Naoroji    maintained    an 
attitude  of  uncompromising  democratic  zeal,  striving 
to  open  out  wider  opportunities  for  the  less  favoured, 
championing  the  cause  of  "  the   submerged  tenth  " 
fighting     pitched    battles     on    the     parliamentary 
back    bench,  on   the   public   platform   and   in   the 
sanctum  of  intimate  friendships,  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  lot  of  the  overtaxed  peasantry,  for  the  elimina- 
tion of  poverty  and  illiteracy  among  India's  countless 
and  dumb  millions,  for  the  removal  of  social  and 
political  stigmas  branded  on  the  foreheads  of  India's 
intellectuals,  and  for  the  general  softening  of  harsh 
and    severe    conditions.      The    main    power    that 
impelled  and  drove  forward  his  activities  was  the 
intense  conviction  that  a  bureaucratic  government, 
alien  or  indigenous,  failed  to  create  the  environment 
where  talent  and  genius  could  come  into  their  own  : 
and  on  the  other  hand  it  reinforced  every  reactionary 
influence  that  suppressed  self-realisation,  and  over- 
burdened with  a  crushing  weight   the  undeveloped 
powers  of  a  nation's  manhood.     We  referred  above 
to    Naoroji' s    fighting    pitched    battles :     we    may, 
perhaps,  add  that  he  fought  these  with  the  coolness 
of  an  experienced  general  that  had  surveyed  the 
entire  situation  before  him,   and  with  the  daring 
and  dash  of  a  trained  soldier. 

From  school  the  transition  to  collegiate  life 
at  Elphinstone  College  was  made  easy  by  Naoroji' s 
winning  a  scholarship*  On  taking  his  B.A.  final 
with  honours,  Dadabhai  did  not  experience  great 


120  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

difficulty  in  securing  an  assistant  professorship  at  his 
Alma  Mater,  which  later  led  to  a  full-blown  professor- 
ship at  that  historic  institution.  In  all  his  attempts 
he  was  considerably  assisted  by  Sir  Erskine 
Perry  and  a  Professor  of  the  same  college.  Sir 
Erskine,  the  principal,  was  so  much  struck  by 
Dadabhai's  integrity,  intelligence  and  mastery  of  the 
English  language,  that  before  Dadabhai's  graduation 
he  offered  to  be  responsible  for  half  the  expenses 
requisite  for  Dadabhai's  education  for  the  English 
Bar,  provided  his  parents  could  arrange  for  the 
raising  of  the  other  half.  But  in  those  days  the 
prevailing  panic  was,  and  this  was  shared  by 
Dadabhai's  parents  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  that 
a  visit  to  England  might  result  in  the  youth's  con- 
version to  Christianity.  So  the  project  was  hung  up 
for  a  season,  and  then  ultimately  dropped  so  far  as 
the  parents  were  concerned. 

During  under-graduate  days,  and  perhaps  earlier 
while  at  school,  Dadabhai  would,  like  Gokhale,  snap 
at  English  classics  and  read  them  with  great  avidity* 
He  was  also  tremendously  interested  in  books  on 
travel  and  adventure,  and  in  thrilling  anecdotes 
of  heroism  and  philanthropy.  Thus  the  lives  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Slavery  Abolition  movement, 
lives  like  those  of  William  Wilberforce,  Thomas 
Clarkson  and  Zachary  Macaulay  exercised  a  great 
fascination  over  a  mind  so  wonderfully  amenable 
to  appeals  of  human  tragedy  and  so  sensitive  to 
the  demands  of  suffering  humanity.  The  perusal 
of  these  biographies  fired  his  imagination,  and  set 
his  life  aglow  with  many  a  fixed  resolve.  And 


DADABHOY  NAOROJI  121 

it  is  common  knowledge  to-day  that  never  did 
patriot  or  reformer  ever  apply  himself  to  seemingly 
impossible  tasks  with  sterner  determination  or 
haughtier  defiance  of  the  barriers  that  strewed  the 
pathway  to  achievement.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
instructive  to  observe  that  Naoroji  was  at  no  time 
of  his  life  an  idle  visionary,  nor  ever  did  he  under- 
take to  achieve  what  lay  beyond  the  zone  of 
accomplishment  in  the  history  of  more  favoured 
countries. 

When  some  years  later  Dadabhai  interviewed  Sir 
Erskine  Perry,  while  the  latter  held  an  appointment 
at  the  India  Office,  in  Whitehall,  Dadabhai  was  quite 
convinced,  as  was  his  erstwhile  principal,  that  the 
fiasco  of  the  earlier  years  had  only  broadened  the 
avenues  of  useful  service  to  his  country,  and  that  a 
lawyer's  career,  however  lucrative,  would  have 
greatly  curbed  his  enthusiasm  for  service  and  con- 
fined his  sphere  of  influence. 

Before  coming  to  England,  however,  Dadabhai 
had  striven  to  the  best  of  his  ability  to  launch  new 
and  rather  ambitious  schemes  for  the  improvement 
of  the  standards  of  teaching  efficiency  in  the  existing 
schools,  for  establishing  a  large  number  of  schools 
where  English  must  be  the  medium  of  instruction, 
for  female  education  leading  to  the  fuller  emancipa- 
tion of  women,  for  floating  new  journalistic  ventures 
advocating  religious  and  social  reform.  Dadabhai 
was  thus  prompted  by  his  reforming  instincts  in  all 
the  various  spheres  of  his  life-work,  for  he  saw  the 
utter  futility  of  dreaming  new  dreams,  without 
developing  the  corresponding  capacity  for  setting 


122  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

one's  house  in  order,  or  developing  those  aptitudes 
without  which  mere  political  ambitions  only  foster 
a  vague  discontent.  He  clearly  foresaw  with  the 
vision  of  a  prophet,  that  gross  abuses  had  crept  into 
his  own  community,  by  reason  of  the  obscurantist 
leadership  of  ignorant  priests  and  general  social  and 
moral  helplessness.  He  was  fortunate  in  securing 
the  loyal  co-operation  of  eminent  Parsee  progressives, 
but  it  is  the  merest  justice  to  Dadabhai  to  say  that 
he  himself  was,  from  their  very  inception,  the  chief 
guiding  spirit  of  these  reforms.  The  paper  called 

Rast  Guftar "  owes  its  origin  mainly,  if  not 
exclusively  to  Dadabhai' s  efforts,  and  this  paper  has 
always  maintained  an  attitude  of  unflinching 
criticism  of  religious  and  social  anomalies  in  the 
community  and  political  in  the  government. 

During  his  long  residence  in  England,  his  pro- 
fessional connection  with  Messrs.  Cama  and  Co.,  the 
first  Parsee  house  of  business  established  in  this 
country  did  not  damp  his  ardour  for  political  service  : 
it  only  quickened  his  eagerness  to  secure  the  redress 
of  Indian  grievances  and  to  get  the  British  demo- 
cracy interested  in  India's  vital  needs.  It  was 
through  his  powerful  presentation  of  the  Indian  case 
in  Parliament,  that  the  famous  Welby  Commission 
of  1886  was  appointed  to  investigate  Indian 
finance  and  expenditure.  Very  little  by  way  of 
substantial  reform  was  achieved  through  the  various 
recommendations  embodied  in  the  Commission's 
report  :  in  fact  most  of  the  recommendations 
covered  elaborate  side-issues  of  technique  and  method, 
and  skilfully  evaded  the  broad,  main  issues  that 


DADABHOY  NOAROJI  123 

required  to  be  handled.  But  it  will  remain  to 
Naoroji's  perpetual  credit,  that  he,  in  his  capacity 
as  Liberal  M.P.  (for  Central  Finsbury),  did  make 
a  heroic  attempt  to  move  the  authorities,  in  the 
face  of  powerful  vested  interests,  to  press  in  the  right 
direction.  Throughout  his  parliamentary  career 
he  was  entirely  engrossed  in  securing  sympathy  for 
and  interest  in  the  various  schemes  of  reform,  fully 
known  to  Congress  reformers. 

It  was  through  his  able  and  unyielding  champion- 
ship of  Indian  rights  that  the  competition  for  the 
Indian  Civil  Service  was,  for  the  first  time  thrown 
open  to  Indians. 

During  his  residence  in  England,  he  made  many 
notable  friendships  with  renowned  publicists  like 
Bradlaugh  and  Bright,  and  famous  statesmen  like 
Gladstone  and  the  Duke  of  Argyll.  His  statements 
on  Indian  questions  were  couched  in  such  dignified 
and  accurate  terms,  that  they  compelled  the  sym- 
pathy of  friends  and  commanded  the  respect  of 
opponents.  He  never  appealed  to  the  baser  elements 
of  human  nature,  but  based  his  appeals  or  demands 
on  facts,  and  then  issued  them  to  the  generous 
impulses,  the  chivalrous  instincts  of  his  hearers, 
whatever  their  political  persuasion.  His  faith  in 
the  triumph  of  the  cause  that  he  was  espousing 
always  remained  unshaken,  only  reinforced  by 
dangers  that  so  often  threatened,  and  deferred  hopes. 

It  was  mainly  through  the  combined  influence  of 

Dadabhai  Naoroji  and  of  that  of  the  unconquerable 

spirit  of  Charles  Bradlaugh,  that  the  famous  House 

,  of  Commons  Resolution  was  passed  in  i886,recom- 


124  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

mending  the  holding  of  simultaneous  examinations, 
for  all  branches  of  Imperial  Services,  both  in  England 
and  India.  It  is  true  that  this  resolution  was 
almost  contemptuously  set  aside  by  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote,  then  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  but  we 
can  form  some  estimate  of  the  magnetic  power  that 
was  responsible  at  least  for  the  passage  of  the  historic 
resolution  through  the  House  of  Commons,  usually, 
too  preoccupied  with  the  pressure  of  domestic  con- 
cerns, and  especially  irresponsive — and  almost  empty 
— on  the  day  the  East  India  estimates  come  up  for 
discussion.  We  do  not  know  whether  during  his 
parliamentary  career  or  earlier  he  in  any  way 
influenced  Mrs.  Annie  Besant's  attitude  towards 
India,  especially  as  the  latter  was  then  so  closely 
co-operating  with  Bradlaugh  on  various  democratic 
platforms.  In  any  case,  it  is  obvious  that  the  two 
frequently  compared  notes  on  Indian  matters,  and 
that  the  nomination  of  Dadabhai  Naoroji  as 
Honorary  President  of  the  Bombay  branch  of  the 
Home  Rule  for  India  League,  was  the  result  of  a 
genuine  appreciation  by  Mrs.  Besant  of  the  sterling 
qualities  of  leadership  found  in  such  conspicuous 
measure  in  the  earliest  apostle  of  Home  Rule  for 
India. 

Among  the  noble  succession  of  Indian  politicians 
and  statesmen,  it  would  be  hard  to  find  one  so  broad 
in  his  democratic  outlook,  and  so  solicitous  for  the 
well-being  of  the  masses.  Politics  with  Naoroji 
were  never  a  fad  or  a  hobby,  but  the  most  effective 
method  of  promoting  the  best  interests  of  his  country. 
Yet  he  was  no  sectarian  or  narrow-minded  nationalist. 


DADABHOY  NAOROJI  125 

True,  that  he  wanted  Indians  to  rise  to  the  full 
dignity  of  emancipated  manhood,  and  was  over- 
powered with  grief  when  he  saw  the  Intelligentsia 
as  "  merely  drawers  of  water  and  hewers  of  wood." 
But  still  his  burning  desire  to  promote  Indian 
nationality  was  due  to  the  still  more  potent  con- 
viction that  only  thus  could  she  take  an  honourable 
place  in  the  comity  of  nations. 

Dadabhai  Naoroji's  private  life  was  just  as  much 
above  reproach  as  his  public  life  was  above  the 
suspicion  of  self-interest,  insincerity  and  com- 
promise. It  was  his  life-long  conviction  that 
absolute  purity  in  personal  life  was  essential  to  the 
efficient  discharge  of  public  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities as  patriot  or  nation-builder.  This  might 
sound  rather  puritanic  in  an  age  when  moral  sanctions 
are  looked  upon  as  of  subsidiary  importance,  even 
by  those  plunged  in  the  onerous  duties  of  political 
life.  Dadabhai  considered  a  compromise,  say  on  the 
temperance  question  as  fatal  and  fatuous  as  surrender 
on  the  Home  Rule  issue.  His  long  and  fully  occupied 
life  presents  as  perfect  an  embodiment  as  is  humanly 
speaking  possible  of  the  principle  that  sanity  of  mind 
depends  on  the  unimpaired  vitality  of  the  physique, 
and  that  intensive  devotion  to  noble  pursuits 
demands  the  surrender  of  lower  standards  and  baser 
occupations. 

When  in  March,  1917,  the  Grand  Old  Man  of 
India  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  there  was  pro- 
found and  universal  grief  felt,  not  only  all  over 
Bombay,  by  the  melancholy  event,  but  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  India.  Political  India 


126  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

especially  was  draped  in  deep  mourning,  for  the 
ablest  and  most  advanced  of  her  sons  was  no  more. 
The  death  was  deplored  not  only  by  politicians, 
but  by  officials,  secretaries  of  learned  and  reform 
societies  :  by  the  king  on  his  throne  to  the  beggar 
on  the  street. 

During  the  war  Naoroji  preached  as  vigorously 
as  possible  loyalty  to  the  Empire  that  was  locked  in  a 
life-and-death  struggle,  and  which  with  all  the 
failings  of  its  lesser  representatives,  was  really  the 
guardian  of  freedom  and  civilisation,  in  essence  and 
intention  ;  if  not  always,  to  outward  appearance, 
in  actual  attainment. 

The  influence  of  Naoroji' s  life  and  work  will 
last  until  India  enters  on  her  full  inheritance,  the 
vision  of  which  was  so  clearly  seen  and  so  lucidly 
stated  by  this  prophet  of  Indian  autonomy. 

When  in  1886  he  put  up  for  the  parliamentary 
candidature  for  Holborn,  Lord  Salisbury  sneered  at 
the  "  black  man  "  seeking  election  and  being  feted 
at  the  National  Liberal  Club.  And  the  irony  of  the 
remark  consists  in  the  fact  that  Dadabhai  Naoroji, 
was  much  fairer  than  Lord  Salisbury,  and  had 
venerable  features  of  classic  dignity.  Mr.  Ratcliffe, 
the  well-known  journalist;,  told  us  only  recently  that 
Lord  Salisbury's  son  used  to  be  highly  amused  why 
his  father  should  address  Naoroji  of  all  others,  by 
this  designation. 

His  death  in  1917,  was  very  deeply  and  widely 
lamented.  Governors  and  high  officials  generally 
sent  messages  of  condolence  to  the  bereaved  family. 
Sir  William  Wedderburn  presided  at  a  large  meeting 


DADABHOY  NAOROJI  127 

held  in  Caxton  Hall,  in  London,  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  such  an  illustrious  son  of  India.  Among 
the  moderate  politicals  of  India  none  came  up  to 
Naoroji  in  point  of  unblemished  private  life  and 
irreproachable  public  career,  stimulated  by  high 
impersonal  aims. 


VII 
SWAMI    VIVEKANANDA 

(1862 — 4th  July,  1902) 

"  His  doctrine  was  no  academic  system  of  metaphysics,  of 
purely  historic  and  linguistic  interest,  butfthe  heart's  faith 
of  a  living  people,  who  had  struggled  continuously  for  its 
realisation,  in  life  and  in  death,  for  twenty-five  centuries 
.  .  .  he  stood  for  work  without  attachment,  or  work  for 
impersonal  ends,  as  one  of  the  highest  expressions  of  the 
religious  life." — Miss  MARGARET  NOBLE. 

"  Remember  !  Remember  !  the  message  of  India  is  always 
'  Not  the  soul  for  nature,  but  nature  for  the  soul.'  ' 

SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA. 

"  Forgive,  when  you  also  can  bring  legions  of  angels  to  an 
easy  victory." — Ibid. 

"  What  the  world  wants  to-day  is  twenty  men  and  women 
who  can  dare  to  stand  in  the  street  yonder  and  say  that  they 
possess  nothing  but  God.  Who  will  go  ?  " — Ibid. 

THE  main  reason  for  including  the  Swami's  life-work 
in  these  biographical  sketches  is  that  though  he  was 
especially  fond  of  metaphysics  and  religious  specula- 
|  tion,  no  one  has  striven  more  nobly  to  modernise 
1  the  general  tone  of  life  in  India.  It  is  moreCthan 
probable  that  some  of  the  influences  operative  in  his 
character  were  imbibed  during  his  school  days  and 
when  he  was  studying  at  a  missionary  college  in 
Calcutta.  But  the  supreme  crisis  in  his  life  came 
when  he  was  on  a  lecturing  tour  in  America.  He  had 
frequent  interviews  with  men^of  light  and  leading  ; 


128 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  129 

studied  the  methodical  habits  of  the  people  and  their 
capacity  for  practical  tasks  ;  saw  the  condition  of 
women's  education  and  the  organisation  of  medical 
facilities,  and  was  impressed  with  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation obtaining  in  Western  countries.  So  it  is 
not  surprising  that  we  find  him  in  India,  an  ardent 
supporter  of  women's  education  and  the  champion  of 
the  masses.  Though  he  never  swerved  one  inch  from 
I  his  central  conviction  that  India's  message  to  the  ; 

{  world  is  in  the  realm  of  religion,  he  fully  appreciated  4 
that  life  in  Western  countries  was  more  progressive 

i   because  of  love  of  freedom,  education  and  co-ordina- 

!   tion  of  effort. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  scientific  inventions  like 
wireless  telegraphy  or  even  the  art  of  navigation 
struck  his  mind  as  appropriate  media  for  the  spread 
of  spiritual  ideals.  He  was  fully  conscious  that  the 

I  dreams  of  the  Buddhist  Emperor  Asoka  to  federate 

\  humanity  on  a  spiritual  basis  could  not  materialise 
because  of  lack  of  facilities  for  travel  and  absence  of 
scientific  inventions. 

But  on  his  second  visit  to  America,  he  felt  that  in 

I  the  heart  of  Western  civilisation  slumbered  a  volcano, 
and  behind  great  commercial  activities  was  the 

I  intoxication  of  power,  love  of  greed  and  exploitation 

1  of  the  weak  and  the  poor.  This  confirmed  his 
previous  impression — hence  his  message  :  "  Material- 
ism and  all  its  miseries  cannot  be  conquered  by 
materialism.  Armies,  when  they  attempt  to  conquer 
armies,  only  multiply  and  make  brutes  of  humanity. 
.  Spirituality  must  conquer  the  West.  .  .  ../ 
Now  is  the  time  to  work  for  India's  spiritual  ideas 


130  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

penetrating  deep  into  the  West.  .  .  We  must 
go  out.  We  must  conquer  the  world  through  our 
spirituality  and  philosophy.  We  must  do  it  or  die. 
The  condition  of  Indian  national  life,  of  unashamed 
and  vigorous  national  life  is  the  conquest  of  the  world 
by  Indian  thought." 

It  was  at  the  Chicago  Parliament  of  Religions 
held  in  1893,  that  Narendra  Nath  Dutt — the  Swami's 
name  before  he  entered  on  an  ascetic  life — first 
received  European  recognition  for  interpreting 
to  the  West  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  best  in 
Hindu  thought  and  ideals,  in  modern  language. 
His  main  contribution  to  the  discussions  then  carried 
on,  may  thus  be  summed  up  : 

1.  God  is  "impersonal"   so  far  as  an  ultimate 
analysis  of  His  being  is  concerned,  for  since,  in  his 
essence,    He    is    superior    to    spatial    limitation  or 
temporal  sequence,  He  cannot  be  located  in  space  or 
limited  by  time.     At  the  same  time,  to  the  individual 
believer,  who  has  focussed  his  attention   on  some 
aspect  of  His  Being,  in  his  desire  to  visualise  His 
nature  and  let  it  be  a  source  of  inspiration  for  his 
personal  needs,  God  is  "  personal."     But  this  is  a 
lower    degree    of  "  realisation."     To    the    initiated 
the  Divinity  is  the  Reality  that  pervades  the  whole 
Universe  and  is  operative  in  human  thought  as  well 
as  in  the  evolution  of  the  Universes.     In  that  mighty 
consciousness  slumbers  the   mysteries  of  the  worlds 
and  the  secrets  of  human  development. 

2.  Being  and  Becoming  are  different  aspects  of  the 
same  reality  and  are  only  relative  to  our  intelligence. 
Man   has   the   promise   and   potentiality   of   divine 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  131 

realisation,  of  spiritual  perfection  and  therefore  is  God 
in  the  making,  for  even  his  humanity  is  intelligible 
only  if  regarded  as  an  individualised  self-expression 
of  God.  It  is  derogatory  to  human  nature,  there- 
fore, to  attribute  sin  to  man.  Besides,  God  being  the 
sole  and  supreme  Reality,  how  could  a  foreign 
element  like  sin  invade  the  sanctuary  of  being  ? 
"  The  Hindus  refuse  to  call  you  sinners  '.  Ye, 
divinities  on  earth,  sinners  !  It  is  a  sin  to  call  man 
so  !  It  is  a  standing  libel  on  human  nature."  (from 
the  Swami's  address  at  the  Parliament  of  Religions). 
On  another  occasion  he  wrote  :  "  The  sages  who 
wrote  the  Vedas  were  preachers  of  principles.  Now 
and  then  their  names  are  mentioned,  but  that  is  all. 
We  do  not  know  who  or  what  they  were.  At  the 
same  time,  just  as  our  God  is  an  impersonal  and  yet  a 
personal  one,  so  our  religion  is  a  most  intensely 
impersonal  one,  and  yet  has  an  infinite  scope  for 
the  play  of  persons." 

3.  The  claim  of  Hinduism  to   be  the  universal 
religion  is  that  it  preaches  principles  and  does  not 
demand  loyalty  to  persons.     As  for  religions    that 
have    gathered      round    the    personality    of    some 
individual,  "  smash  the  historicity  of  the  man,  and 
the  religion  tumbles  to  the  ground.     The  glory  of 
Krishna  was  not  that  he    was  a    Krishna,   but  that 
he  was  a  teacher  of  Vedanta." 

4.  Since  God  is  all  and  all  is  God,  the  world  per- 
ceived   by  the   senses  is  of  an  illusory  nature,  the 
only  true  world  or  state  of  being  is  that  of  intuitive 
realisation  of  spiritual  reality,  which  is  the  recog- 
nition   of   the    soul's    identity    with    the    Ultimate 


132  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


Reality  called  Brahma.  According  to  this  hypothesis 
the  Ideal  and  the  Real  merge  into  one  and  all  dis- 
criminations are  brushed  aside  between  Being  and 
Becoming.  It  falls  beyond  the  scope  of  this  book 
to  offer  criticisms  of  the  above  statements.  We  can 
only  say  in  passing  that  side  by  side  with  vigorous 
and  bold  thinking,  there  is  serious  confusion  of 
issues  and  impatience  with  reducing  the  ideas  to  a 
system.  The  Swami's  ideas  have  not  been  reduced 
to  a  coherent  system,  but  are  brilliant  flashes  of 
genius  alternating  with  mere  verbal  jugglery  and 
empty  flourishes  of  rhetoric. 

5.  The  East  is  profoundly  spiritual  and  religious, 
the  West  profoundly  practical  and  political,    but 
in    the    main,    irreligious    and    materialistic.     Both 
have  to  learn  a  great  deal  from  each  other.     The 
Swami's  great  ambition  was  to  set  up  a   commerce 
in  ideas  between  the  East  and  the  West,  analogous 
to  the  exchange  of  commodities  between  the  nations. 
He  would  say :    "  Send  a  ship-load  of  doctors  and 
teachers  out  to  India,  and  we  shall  send  you  mission- 
aries of  religion."     He  would  also  say  :    "  For  clear 
thinking  and  sound  idealism  the    Greeks  ;    for  effi- 
ciency, business  reliability  and  the  love  for  personal 
and  national  freedom  the  English  ;   but  for  audacity 
in  religious  thinking  and  for  philosophical  acumen 
the  Indians." 

6.  He  had  a  bold  vision  of  a  spiritual  federation  of 
humanity,  heedless  of  caste,  colour  and  creed.     He 
was  grievously  disappointed  at  the  treatment  meted 
out  to  the  negroes  in  America.     Once  or  twice  he  was 
himself  mistaken  for  a  negro  ;  but  he  did  not  express 


SWAMI   VIVEKANANDA  133 

any  resentment,  accepted  with  great  enthusiasm  the 
hospitality  of  negroes,  who  acclaimed  him  as  their 
great  leader,  and  expressed  pride  that  he  should 
achieve  such  distinction  as  a  member  of  their  race  ! 
When  his  American  friends  apologised,  he  resumed 
friendship  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  pro- 
phesied a  great  future  for  the  despised  race. 

7.  The  fundamental  unity  of  mankind  he  perceived 
in  the  central  fact  of  the  common  relation  all  bore 
to  the  Immanent  Life.     He   had  great   veneration 
for  Christ  and  spoke  of  Him  as  "  a  disembodied, 
unfettered  soul."     He  would  ever  and  anon  speak 
of  the  "  Christ  in  you,"  the  "  kingdom  of  heaven  in 
your  heart  "  and  so  on. 

8.  But  finally  his  lasting  achievement  was  to  infuse 
a  spirit  of  active  philanthropy  and  social  co-opera- 
tion   into    an    individualistic    scheme    of    abstract 
philosophy.      He    called  it  "  practical  vedantism  " 
or  New  Vedantism,  the  idea  being  that  reunion  with 
the  Divine  Life  is  best  accomplished  through  selfless 
service  and  devotion  to  man. 

On  his  return  from  America  he  launched  a  most 
ambitious  scheme  of  reforms.  Miss  Margaret  Noble 
tells  us  that  his  desire  was  to  spread  a  net-work  of 
schools,  monasteries,  hospitals  and  philanthropic 
institutions  for  which  he  wanted  £20,000,000.  But 
the  support  given,  even  by  those  who  lost  their  heads 
in  unstinted  praise  of  him,  was  at  best  very  meagre 
and  grudging.  Still  he  succeeded  in  founding  the 
Rama  Krishna  Mission  in  connection  with  which 
;  there  is  a  monastery  for  training  ascetics,  who  engage 
in  active  philanthropic  service,  at  Belur  near  Calcutta, 


134  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

another  at  Mayavati  near  Almora,  and  the  third  in 
Madras.  All  these  Vivekananda  founded  on  h  is 
return  from  America.  There  are  five  institutions  for 
affording  medical  relief  to  pilgrims  in  Benares, 
Cawnpore,  Allahabad,  Murshidabad  and  Madras 
which  have  sprung  up  entirely  as  the  result  of  his 
efforts. 

The  last  three  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century 
initiated  an  epoch  of  renascent  self-respect  and  sense 
of  national  dignity  in  India.  We  do  not  suggest 
thereby  that  the  political  consciousness  was  then 
fully  developed,  or  a  sense  of  national  solidarity 
in  the  modern  acceptation  of  the  term,  but  only  that 
among  the  Hindus,  a  pride  in  their  past  became  a 
dominant  consciousness,  and  especially  pride  in  their 
religious  achievements  in  the  past.  This  was  in  part 
due  to  the  rediscovery  of  India's  philosophical  and 
religious  heritage  through  the  patient  and  elaborate 
researches  of  Western  orientalists  into  India's  ancient 
religions  and  schools  of  philosophy.  The  late  Professor 
Max  Miiller  of  Oxford  laid  the  world  of  scholarship 
under  a  deep  obligation  by  publishing  his  well- 
known  commentaries  on  the  Hymns  of  the  Rig  Veda 
between  1845  and  1879.  The  discovery  of  Sanskrit 
and  a  prolonged  study  thereof  by  European  savants, 
and  of  the  marvellous  treasures  buried  in  its  ancient 
literature,  coupled  with  the  recognition  that  Sanskrit 
was  a  suitable  vehicle  of  expression  for  the  subtlest 
and  profoundest  of  ideas,  revolutionised  the  science 
of  language  in  Europe.  It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that 
Sir  William  Jones  published  in  1789  a  translation  of 
Sakuntala,  an  Indian  drama  written  by  Kalidasa 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  135 

who  may  aptly  be  described  as  the  Shakespeare  of 
India.  Likewise,  Warren  Hastings  ordered  a  trans- 
lation and  codification  of  Hindu  laws  and  customs 
in  1776,  and  Prinsep  and  Cunningham  did  pioneer 
work  in  Indian  epigraphy,  art,  and  literature.  But 
these  achievements  of  Western  scholars  did  not 
arouse  the  Indian  imagination  to  the  splendours  of 
the  past  nor  stimulate,  till  later,  that  intense, 
passionate  reverence  for  Indian  traditions  and  pride 
in  their  hoary  antiquity,  which  is  a  prominent 
characteristic  of  the  awakened  Indian  mind  to-day. 
In  the  early  seventies  of  the  last  century,  how- 
ever, fixed  ideas  and  obsessions  in  reference  to 
India's  mental  and  moral  degeneracy  were  replaced 
by  a  dawning  sense  of  pride  and  independence,  and 
people  began  to  feel  for  the  first  time  since  the 
British  advent  into  India,  that  whatever  the  acci- 
dents of  the  political  connection,  India  had  every 
right  to  hold  her  head  high,  in  the  sphere  of  intellect 
and  religion,  as  an  inheritor  of  immortal  renown, 
and  instead  of  despising  her  heritage,  to  treasure  it  as 
of  unique  value,  as  something  that  constituted  her 
birth-right  to  occupy  a  foremost  place  of  honour  in 
contemporary  and  ancient  civilisations. 

We  have  referred  to  the  researches  of  Western 
scholars.  These  were  an  important  element  in 
fostering  a  new  self-confidence  and  veneration  for 
India.  But  there  were  other  influences,  powerful 
and  almost  revolutionary,  at  work  which  brought 
about  the  new  mentality.  In  the  chapter  on  Ram 
Mohan  Roy,  we  have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the 
splendid  pioneer  work  he  did  by  his  agitation  for  the 


136  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


abolition  of  suttee,  for  better  treatment  of  women, 
for  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  through  schools, 
and  mainly  through  his  establishing  the  Brahma 
Samaj  in  1828.  The  reclamation  of  Hinduism  from 
grossly  immoral  and  degrading  customs  was  in  itself 
a  very  potent  influence  for  good,  even  though  the 
Brahma  Samaj  did  not  then,  as  it  does  not  even 
now,  capture  the  adherence  of  the  masses.  But  the 
foundations  of  vigorous  reforms  were  laid  through 
the  heroic  efforts  and  zeal  of  the  Raja  and  his  noble 
band  of  colleagues  and  the  way  was  thus  opened  for 
social  amelioration  and  religious  reform.  The 
decadent,  rigid,  hide-bound  orthodoxy  before  and 
in  his  day,  left  hardly  much  room  for  hope  or 
movement,  and  but  for  the  audacious  spirit  and 
vision  of  the  Raja  the  remarks  of  Abbe  Dubois 
and  Meredith  Townsend  would  have  been  found 
to  ring  true  to-day  :  Dubois  said  :  "I  venture 
to  predict  that  the  British  Government  will  attempt 
in  vain  to  effect  any  very  considerable  changes 
in  the  social  condition  of  the  people  of  India, 
whose  character,  principles,  customs  and  ineradicable 
conservatism  will  always  present  insurmountable 
obstacles"  (Dubois  :  "  Hindu  Manners,  Customs  and 
Ceremonies,"  p.  23).  And  Meredith  Townsend: 
"  .  .  .  if  the  English  departed  or  were  driven  out 
they  would  leave  behind  them  as  the  Romans  did  in 
Britain,  splendid  roads,  many  useless  buildings,  an 
increased  weakness  in  the  subject  people,  and  a 
memory  which  in  a  century  of  new  events  would  be 
extinct."  ("  Asia  and  Europe,"  p.  27). 

The  developments  which  took  place  in  the  period 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  137 

roughly  covered  by  the  life-time  of  Swami 
Vivekananda  say  from  1870  or  thereabouts  to  1904, 
point  at  least  to  one  enduring  benefit  that  has 
accrued  from  the  impact  of  East  and  West  in  India. 
In  spite  of  the  loss  of  political  independence,  India, 
weighted  under  the  crushing  weight  of  alien  occu- 
pation, has  reasserted  her  soul,  has  rediscovered  her 
past,  and  is  thus  fired  with  new  and  proud  ambitions 
for  the  future. 

Over  and  above  the  establishment  of  the  Brahma 
Samaj  in  Bengal  and  later  the  founding  of  the 
Prarthana  Samaj  in  Bombay,  we  must  mention  the 
vigorous  iconoclasm  of  the  Arya  Samaj,  founded 
originally  in  Bombay,  but  later  removed  to  Lahore, 
bearing  on  its  numerous  activities,  and  many-sided 
propaganda  the  impress  of  the  strong,  virile  and 
aggressive  personality  of  its  founder,  Swami  Daya 
Nanda  Saraswati,  whose  life-work  has  been  sketched 
in  another  chapter  in  the  present  volume.  The 
movement  stands  on  unquestioning  faith  in  the 
infallibility  of  the  Vedas,  and  lays  special  stress  on  the 
desirability  of  having  a  national  religion  resting  on 
Hindu  foundations.  It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate 
the  importance  of  the  Arya  Samaj  in  fostering  a 
spirit  of  sturdy  independence  and  in  summoning 
the  people  to  take  the  initiative  in  religious  and  social 
reform,  while  preserving  their  loyalty  to  Vedic 
tradition  instead  of  priding  themselves  on  the  imita- 
tion of  western  modes  of  thought  or  culture,  and 
completely  breaking  away  from  the  Indian  con- 
tinuity. Beyond  doubt,  whatever  be  the  limitations 
of  this  movement,  it  has  served  to  promote  indepen- 


138  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

dence  and  discouraged  the  people  from  helpless 
dependence  on  what  Western  civilisation  stands  for, 
though  it  is  true  that  all  the  elements  in  the  Arya 
Samaj  that  make  for  progress  are  the  result  of  contact 
with  Western  civilisation  and  Christian  ideals. 

Another  powerful  contributory  factor  to  the  birth 
of  the  spirit  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  a 
spirit  which  found  in  Swami  Vivekananda  an 
especially  forceful  expression,  has  been  the  teaching 
of  the  Theosophical  Society,  founded  by  Madame 
H.  P.  Blavatsky  in  New  York  in  1875,  and  trans- 
lerred  to  Adyar,  Madras,  in  1879.  This  is  not  the 
time  or  place  to  go  into  a  full  discussion  of  what  the 
theosophical  movement  stands  for.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  most  outstanding  feature  of  its  propaganda, 
both  in  the  initial  stages  under  Colonel  Olcott 
and  Madame  Blavatsky,  and  later  under  the  still  more 
powerful  leadership  of  Mrs.  Annie  Besant,  has  been  an 
insistent  and  unstinted  laudation  of  things  Indian, 
of  holding  up  Indian  culture  as  essentially  pure, 
spiritual  and  sublime,  and  condemnation  of  W  estern 
civilisation,  in  certain  aspects  at  any  rate,  as  material- 
istic and  degrading.  We  have  prefaced  the  Swami' s 
life-sketch  with  a  description  of  the  various  forces 
that  were  operative  in  the  environment  into  which 
he  was  born,  though  in  doing  so  we  have  no  desire  to 
detract  from  the  individuality  of  the  Swami,  his  great 
powers  of  mind,  as  also  fertility  of  imagination. 

It  may  be  mentioned  in  passing  that  the  Swami 
never  took  to  politics  as  such.  At  the  same  time  it 
has  to  be  remembered  that  he  was  a  convinced 
nationalist,  long  before  the  demands  for  political 


SWAMA    VIVEKANANDA  139 

rights  in  India  became  articulate,  and  war  cries 
for  national  unification  became  vocal.  He  be- 
lieved in  a  rapprochement  between  Hindus  and 
Muhammadans,  partly  because  of  his  conviction  that 
all  religions  had  common  elements  of  truth  but 
mainly  because  he  felt  that  narrow-mindedness  was 
a  sin,  and  that  it  would  enrich  the  Indian  tradition, 
if  peculiarities  in  religious  outlook  and  various  racial 
characteristics  were  accepted  in  a  spirit  of  catholicity 
which  leads  one  to  believe  that  people  may  be  quite 
honest  in  differing  from  others,  that  what  impresses 
one  as  erroneous  may  to  others  hold  up  the  mirror 
of  truth,  and  that  variety  and  diversity  are  signs 
of  life. 

But  while  passing,  we  may  say  a  few  words 
concerning  the  great  teacher,  the  influence  of 
whose  life  and  teachings,  to  a  large  extent,  made 
Vivekananda. 

Some  four  miles  north  of  Calcutta,  Rani  Rashmani 
—  a  wealthy  Bengali  lady^— had  built  the  famous 
temple  of  Dakhineshwar  On  3ist  May,  1855,  as 
assistant  priest  of  this  temple,  came  a  man  whose 
fame  and  achievements  have  made  the  temple  of 
permanent  historic  interest.  That  man  was  Rama 
Krishna,  whose  reputation  for  sanctity,  simplicity 
of  life  and  God-intoxication,  brought  him  adoring 
disciples  from  the  four  corners  of  India.  He  would 
go  into  ecstasies  as  he  would  concentrate  his  mind 
on  the  worship  of  the  goddess  Kali,  and  would  for 
long  intervals  become  quite  unconscious  while  prac- 
tising Samadhi  (i.e.,  intensive  concentration).  He 
would  work  himself  into  a  frenzy  of  delight  as  he 


140  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

contemplated  on  the  attributes  of  the  Mother,  as  he 
called  the  goddess.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  he 
used  the  worship  of  Kali  as  a  symbol  of  the  God 
whom  he  believed  to  be  pervading  all,  around  him. 
Professor  Max  Miiller  thus  characterises  his  mode  of 
worship  :  "  He  now  began  to  look  upon  the  image  of 
the  goddess  Kali  as  his  mother  and  the  mother  of  the 
Universe.  He  believed  it  to  be  living  and  breathing 
and  taking  food  out  of  his  hand.  After  the  regular 
forms  of  worship  he  would  sit  there  for  hours  and 
hours,  singing  hymns  and  talking  and  praying  to  her 
as  a  child  to  his  mother,  till  he  lost  all  consciousness 
of  the  outward  world  "  (cf.  Max  Miiller  :  "  Rama 
Krishna,"  p.  57).  He  practised  great  austerities 
and  penances,  fought  long  and  hard  for  a  complete 
suppression  of  the  sex-instinct  with  the  result  that  he 
absolutely  declined  to  live  with  his  lawfully  married 
wife,  who  was  moved  on  hearing  of  her  husband's 
fame  to  lead  a  similar  life  of  asceticism.  He  engaged 
in  similar  struggles  against  the  observance  of  caste 
distinctions,  did  all  sorts  of  work  usually  done  by  the 
pariahs,  and  even  ate  their  cast-off  food,  accepted 
priesthood  in  a  temple  built  by  a  lady  that  was  not 
a  Brahmin,  and  worked  up  such  a  feeling  of  revulsion 
against  money  and  earthly  possessions  that  even 
while  asleep  his  body  would  be  convulsed  if  touched 
with  a  coin.  His  prayers  for  deliverance  from  sexual 
passions  and  from  love  of  money  were  so  earnest  and 
sincere  that  his  words  would  bring  tears  to  the  eyes 
of  his  hearers.  It  is  said  that  he  once  had  a  vision 
of  Jesus,  and  for  days  after  that  went  into  such 
transports  of  delight  that  he  would  think  and  talk  of 


SWAMI VIVEKANANDA  141 

nothing  else.  He  had  also  the  power  to  induce 
Samadhi  in  others,  to  send  them  into  a  hypnotic 
trance,  that  is  to  say,  and  to  attract  people  to  him. 

Norendra  Nath  Dutt,  for  that  was  the  original  name 
of  the  hero  of  this  sketch,  was  born  on  the  7th  of 
January,  1862,  of  a  Kayastha  family  in  Calcutta. 
There  was  nothing  very  extraordinary  about  him, 
in  his  earlier  years,  except  that  he  had  a  sweet,  rich 
voice  and  was  in  great  demand  for  singing  Bengali 
hymns,  and  impressed  one  as  an  intelligent  boy, 
gentle  and  persevering.  During  his  school  days 
he  would  attend  Brahma  Samaj  meetings  and  was 
constantly  under  the  influence  of  their  prevailing 
ideas.  He  had  a  thoroughly  good  English  education 
and  in  1881  took  his  Bachelor's  degree  from  the  Duff 
College  in  Calcutta,  taking  second  class  honours  in 
philosophy.  Later,  he  took  up  the  study  of  law, 
presumably  with  intent  to  settle  down  to  a  secular 
life,  but  finding  the  study  uncongenial,  he  gave  it 
up.  In  1882,  he  came  under  the  influence  of  the  great 
ascetic  Parmahansa  Rama  Krishna,  whose  fame 
for  religious  devotion,  passionate  fervour  for  the 
goddess  Kali,  and  complete  absorption  in  meditation 
and  ecstasy,  to  the  entire  neglect  of  temporal  needs, 
had  travelled  far  and  wide  through  Calcutta  and 
other  parts  of  India.  His  contact  with  the  great 
Sannyasi  (i.e.,  recluse)  marked  the  crisis  of  his  life, 
since  from  that  moment  he  renounced  all  secular 
ambitions  and  concentrated  his  mind  on  the  quest 
after  spiritual  truth.  On  the  death  of  Rama 
Krishna  in  1886  Norendra  Nath  was  himself 
initiated  as  Sannyasi  and  spent  about  six  years  in 


142  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

solitude,  in  complete  retirement  from  human  inter- 
course ;  thinking  and  contemplating  on  the  mysteries 
of  life. 

He  travelled  far  and  wide,  met  saintly  and  learned 
men,  leading  a  similar  life  of  renunciation,  compared 
notes  on  religion  in  the  course  of  his  peregrinations, 
and  is  said  to  have  visited  parts  of  Tibet  in  order  to 
study  Buddhism,  with  the  aid  of  adepts.  We  find 
him,  at  the  termination  of  this  prolonged  novitiate, 
resume  public  life  as  preacher  of  Vedantism  and 
attract  large  audiences  by  means  of  his  powerful 
oratory  and  attractive  personality.  He  had  a  virile 
and  independent  character,  and  his  utterances 
breathed  a  spirit  of  self-reliance  and  new-born  con- 
fidence which  delighted  his  hearers  and  infused 
new  hope  in  them.  He  never  offered  an  apology  on 
behalf  of  India,  and  was  thoroughly  convinced  that 
she  did  not  need  any,  and  in  fact  that  it  would 
amount  to  disgracing  the  glorious  traditions  of  that 
time-honoured  home  of  religion  and  spirituality  to 
attempt  to  do  so.  Whatever  be  the  value  of  his 
exposition  and  doctrine,  it  was  quite  a  unique 
presentation  of  Hinduism,  proclaiming  it  as  the 
world's  premier  religion,  as  embodying  a  system  of 
doctrine  and  an  outlook  on  life  that  was  in  its  essence 
profoundly  spiritual.  Contemporary  cultures  and 
religious  traditions  may  have  many  redeeming 
qualities,  but  in  point  of  spiritual  perception  and 
intuition  into  the  bases  of  reality,  there  was  nothing 
to  compare  in  the  annals  of  religious  experiences  with 
the  gospel  of  Vedantism. 

This  was  the  message  that  he  dinned  into  the  ears 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  143 

of  his  countrymen,  exhorting  them  to  be  mission- 
aries of  the  Vedantic  faith,  to  take  pride  in  its  sublime 
teaching,  and  to  realise  that  this  was  India's  contri- 
bution to  the  philosophical  and  religious  thought  of 
the  world.  In  this  he  excelled  his  Master  Rama 
Krishna,  who  simply  preached  the  harmony 
of  all  religions,  that  there  were  elements  of  truth 
common  to  all  beliefs,  and  that  every  one  should 
preserve  his  loyalty  to  the  faith  in  which  he  was  born. 
His  famous  article  of  faith  ran  as  follows  :  "A  truly 
religious  man  should  think  that  other  religions  also 
are  paths  leading  to  the  truth.  .  Every  man 
should  follow  his  own  religion.  A  Christian  should 
follow  Christianity,  a  Muhammadan  should  follow 
Muhammadanism  and  so  on.  For  the  Hindus,  the 
ancient  path,  the  path  of  the  Aryan  Rishis  is  the 
best."  (Max  Miiller  :  "  Rama  Krishna  "  153,  177). 
The  special  significance  of  Vivekananda's  addresses 
was  that  during  times  when  everything  Indian  was 

:  customarily  branded  as  possessing  an  inferior  value, 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  in  cherishing 

i  their  ancient  heritage  was  paralysed  both  by  the 
systematic  iconoclasm  of  a  few  narrow-minded 

-  Christian  missionaries  and  the  reforming  zeal  of 
bodies  like  the  Brahma  Samaj,  Vivekananda  had 
the  audacity  to  proclaim  Hinduism  as  a  world-ideal, 
every  element  of  whose  teaching  must  be  zealously 
preserved  against  the  attacks  of  reformers.  His 
epigrammatic  way  of  expressing  this  truth  was  in 
words,  which  his  English  disciple  Sister  Nivedita 
(Miss  Margaret  Noble)  has  preserved  for  us  in 
"  My  Master  as  I  saw  him,"  (p.  13.) 


144  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

"  The  old  ideas  may  be  all  superstition,  but  within 
these  masses  of  superstition  are  nuggets  of  gold  and 
truth.  Have  you  discovered  means  by  which  to 
keep  that  gold  alone,  without  any  of  the  dross  ?  " 
Of  course,  we  must  remember  that  when  Vivekananda 
engaged  in  public  activity,  the  theosophist  propa- 
ganda was  in  full  swing  and  the  monumental 
researches  of  Western  orientalists  into  Vedic  and 
Upanishadic  texts  and  the  schools  of  Hindu  philo- 
sophy were  within  the  grasp  of  educated  Indians.  The 
West  was  gradually  recognising  the  claims  of 
ancient  Hindu  faiths,  and  a  new  pride  in  their  past 
was  instilled  into  the  minds  of  young  and  old  alike 
by  the  sympathetic  and — to  India — highly  compli- 
mentary conclusions  in  reference  to  the  treasures  of 
knowledge  buried  in  India's  past.  Theosophists 
were,  likewise,  declaring  with  a  fan-fare  of  trumpets 
both  the  primacy  of  the  Hindu  faith  and  the  unique 
value  of  its  teachings.  So  it  is  rather  difficult  to  say, 
for  certain,  whether  Vivekananda  had  developed  his 
teachings  without  being  in  any  way  influenced  by 
either  of  the  two  powerful  agencies  operative 
towards  securing  a  world-recognition  for  Hinduism. 
But  one  thing  is  certain.  Namely,  that  Vivekan- 
anda's  English  education  coupled  with  a  satisfactory 
knowledge  of  Sanskrit  made  him  a  very  able  exponent 
of  truths  that  had  gripped  his  mind  and  towards  the 
realisation  of  which  extraneous  influences  may  have, 
indirectly,  served  as  contributory  causes. 

In  1893,  the  Parliament  of  Religions  was  to 
be  held  in  Chicago,  U.S.A.  Many  prominent 
Hindus  felt  that  no  abler  exponent  of  the  Hindu 


SWAMI  VIVEKANANDA  145 

faith  could  be  sent  over,  and  accordingly  Vivekananda 
went  as  an  accredited  representative.  He  was 
indisputably  admitted  as  the  greatest  personality 
of  all  the  members  of  that  distinguished  assemblage. 
He  rose  to  heights  of  eloquence  while  expounding 
the  inner  core  of  truth  in  Hinduism  and  his 
novel  presentation  of  Hinduism  produced  a  pro- 
found impression.  The  American  audiences  were 
swayed  by  an  impulse  of  uncontrollable  appreciation. 
The  New  York  and  other  prominent  journals  rang 
with  a  chorus  of  approbation.  India  acquired  a 
highly  dignified  status  in  the  estimation  of  those  who 
previously  had  heard  only  a  prejudiced  version  of 
her  past  history.  He  made  a  few  disciples  in 
America,  started  a  number  of  Vedanta  societies, 
accepted  numerous  invitations  to  engage  in  lecturing 
and  propaganda  work  and  was  acclaimed  there  as  an 
exceptionally  brilliant  champion  of  the  Hindu  faith. 
His  return  to  India  was  a  triumphal  progress.  He 
received  deep  homage  as  one  that  had  vindicated  the 
verities  of  the  Hindu  faith,  and  had  thus  elevated  the 
dignity  of  an  ancient  civilisation  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Western  world. 

To  Western  readers,  all  this  may  convey  only  a 
sensational,  theatrical  effect.  But  we  have  seen  how 
the  visit  to  the  West  broadened  the  Swami's  vision, 
and  though  his  religious  convictions  remained 
unshaken,  he  acquired  a  new  zeal  for  social  service 
and  organised  work  of  a  humanitarian  nature. 


10 


VIII 

GOPALA    KRISHNA    GOKHALE 
(1866-1915) 

IN  the  muster-roll  of  Indian  publicists  that  have 
nobly  served  their  country,  the  late  Mr.  Gokhale 
occupied  a  very  conspicuous  position, — indeed,  a 
position  which,  if  not  unequalled,  has  never  been 
surpassed,  by  the  foremost  of  his  contemporaries. 
It  were  idle  or  at  any  rate  premature  to  predict,  at 
this  stage,  of  the  coming  leader  of  New  India,  whose 
attainments  and  record  of  service  might  eclipse 
Gokhale' s  unique  contributions  to  the  Indian  cause. 
For  Gokhale  placed  on  the  altar  of  patriotic  duty,  not 
simply  his  talents,  energies  and  abounding  enthu- 
siasm, but  his  very  all.  Politics  were  to  him  not  a 
hobby,  to  be  ridden  to  death  during  moments  of 
relaxation  from  the  strenuous  duty  of  piling  up 
riches ;  nor  yet  a  pastime  when  other  pursuits 
became  cumbersome  and  boring,  to  while  away  the 
tedium  of  an  aimless  existence  ;  but  an  exalted 
form  of  duty  which  demanded  sacrifice  and  study, 
and  intelligent  and  continuous  interest  of  a  life-time. 
Politics  to  Gokhale  were  coeval  with  life  and  religion 
and  the  most  intimate  verities  of  personal  life. 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  147 

These  were,  for  him,  synonymous  with  useful  citizen- 
ship and  national  duty. 

Without  the  slightest  attempt  at  exaggeration  it 
may  be  said  of  him  that  ever  since  he  took  his  B.A. 
degree,  from  Elphinstone  College,  Bombay,  at  the 
early  age  of  eighteen,  right  up  to  the  date  of  his 
retirement  practically  in  1904,  from  the  professoriate 
of  Fergusson  College,  Poona,  self-dedication  to  India 
has  been  the  most  dominant  motive  of  his  life.  And 
when,  in  1906,  we  see  him  emerge  on  the  political 
arena  at  the  termination  of  his  two  years'  furlough, 
secured  after  an  uninterrupted  educational  work  for 
eighteen  years,  we  find  the  capacity  for  service  and 
self-sacrifice  that  was  a  normal  feature  of  his  life, 
enhanced  and  intensified.  This  spirit  of  self- 
abnegation  never  forsook  him.  At  a  time  when  he 
was  at  the  zenith  of  fame,  having  the  possibility  of 
lucrative  careers  well  within  his  grasp,  he  preferred 
an  arduous  sphere  with  a  bare  subsistence  allowance 
attached  to  it,  because  of  his  conviction  that  this 
sphere  would  afford  wider  opportunities  for  unosten- 
tatious service,  and  because  he  felt  that  he  would 
thereby  be  laying  the  foundations  deep  of  that  spirit 
of  co-operation  which  is  essential  to  true  success  in 
nation-building. 

Gokhale  kindled  a  rare  enthusiasm  in  his  pupils 
and  taught  various  subjects,  for  example,  history, 
mathematics  and  economics,  in  the  indigenous 
institution,  on  whose  Board  of  Control,  so  to  speak, 
he  was  himself  a  distinguished  member.  The  very 
fact  that  his  services  were  successfully  utilised  in 
the  teaching  of  such  diverse  subjects  bears  witness 


148  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

to  his  versatility  which  never  compromised  his 
efficent  discharge  of  the  duties  thrust  on  him.  His 
colleagues  would  often  chaff  him  and  designate  him 
as  "  a  professor  to  order  "  who  would  step  into  the 
breach  as  emergency  arose.  He  had  a  fine  ear  for 
English  style,  and  would  devour  with  great  avidity 
brilliant  master-pieces  by  English  authors  of  renown. 
And  he  was  always  thorough  almost  to  a  fault,  in 
his  preparation  of  lectures  and  addresses.  But 
though  his  mental  powers  were  quite  capacious 
and  his  memory  of  brilliant  retentiveness,  the  des- 
tinies had  not  ordained  that  his  great  successes 
should  be  won  on  the  academic  battlefield.  His 
services  as  professor  were  quite  successful,  but  by  no 
means  of  unique  distinction.  He  would  exercise 
great  discrimination  in  selecting  pupils  of  exceptional 
merit  for  special  interest. 

His  father,  who  held  a  small  post  in  Kagal,  a  state 
in  Kolapur,  died  when  the  hero  of  our  sketch 
was  only  twelve  years  old.  At  the  early  age  of 
eighteen,  Gopalrao  had  to  decide  on  his  life  work, 
having  passed  his  matriculation  from  the  Raja  Ram 
High  School  in  1881,  his  "  previous  "  from  Raja  Ram 
College  in  the  year  following,  his  first  B.A.  from  the 
Deccan  College  in  part,  and  his  final  B.A.  from 
Elphinstone  College,  Bombay.  So  at  an  age  when 
the  minions  of  fortune  are  safely  cradled  behind 
parental  care,  and  the  pampered  sons  of  luxury 
take  a  breathing-space  before  some  prosperous 
berths  are  found  for  them,  Gokhale  was  completely 
thrown  on  his  own  resources.  But,  needless  to  say, 
this  strenuous  discipline  bred  in  him  habits  of 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  149 

industry,  foresight  and  self-reliance  which  did 
splendid  service  for  him,  throughout  his  life  and  left 
its  imprint  on  his  personality.  It  is,  of  course,  true 
that  the  hard  struggles  of  his  early  life  somewhat 
contributed  to  his  premature  death,  if  also  to  his 
precocity  and  mental  vigour.  But  we  shall  express 
no  great  surprise  at  this,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that,  with 
a  few  exceptions,  most  of  India's  illustrious  men  have 
had,  since  his  day  and  before,  to  smash  their  way 
through  adversity. 

One  word  more  about  his  teaching  work.  It  is 
said  that  though  as  professor  of  English  literature 
he  took  considerable  pains  in  cultivating  in  his  pupils 
a  desire  for  correct  and  luminous  style,  and  took  an 
active  interest  in  debates,  recitations  and  the  like, 
he  was  at  his  best  when  teaching  history  and  more 
especially  economics.  From  his  master,  Mahadeva 
Govinda  Ranade,  he  had  learnt  how  to  grasp  economic 
principles  and  apply  them  to  conditions  prevailing  in 
India,  thus  making  the  study  of  economics  a  matter 
of  lively  human  interest  and  national  utility.  We 
also  learn  that  Gokhale  was  very  eager  in  his  study 
of  European  history,  and  particularly  of  English 
history,  because  the  latter  impressed  him  as  neither 
more  nor  less  than  the  gradual  triumph  of  democratic 
struggles,  and  the  slow  but  sure  overthrow  of  dynastic 
and  oligarchic  conceptions.  No  one  could  take  greater 
pride  in  Indian  history  than  he,  but  somehow  he 
felt  depressed  to  think  that  there  were  epochs  in 
Indian  history  which  registered  bare  chronicles  of 
autocratic  beneficence  or  commercial  prosperity  or 
religious  triumph,  but  did  not  tingle  with  the  keen 


150  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

zest  for  the  democratic  idea  whose  gradual  evolution 
was  to  Gokhale  the  very  life-blood  of  the  British 
constitution. 

It  is  rather  unfortunate  that  his  versatility  and 
many-sided  activities  should  serve  as  a  formidable 
barrier  to  specialisation  in  any  one  department  of 
knowledge.  For  it  must  be  confessed  that  Gokhale 
has  left  behind  him  almost  nothing,  by  way  of 
original  reflections  on  Indian  economics  or  fresh 
impressions  of  even  the  history  of  India,  which  might 
serve  as  a  fitting  monument  to  his  scholarship  and 
erudition,  that  were  very  extensive,  though  by  no 
means  profound.  We  shall  have  to  modify  our 
regrets,  however,  when  we  bear  in  mind,  as  well  we 
may,  that  Gokhale's  life  was  always  crammed  full  of 
useful  and  altruistic  activities,  leaving  very  limited 
scope  for  research  or  feats  of  learning.  During 
the  time  that  he  was  fully  engrossed  with  College 
work  he  continued  as  Secretary  of  the  Sarvajanik 
Society  from  1888  to  1896. 

We  have  referred  to  Gokhale's  appearance  on  the 
political  arena  as  taking  place  somewhere  in  1906. 
By  this  we  only  mean  his  exclusive  and  whole-time 
preoccupation  with  politics.  But  his  political 
activities  carry  us  to  a  much  earlier  date, 
for  we  have  only  to  remind  ourselves  that  as 
early  as  1895  Gokhale  was  nominated  as  Secretary 
of  the  Reception  Committee  for  the  Poona  Session  of 
the  Indian  National  Congress,  and  that  on  the  advice 
of  such  experts  as  Ranade  and  others,  he  was  deputed 
to  give  evidence  before  the  Welby  Commission  in 
1896,  in  the  interests  of  India  and,  therefore,  to  a 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  151 

large  extent,  as  a  representative  of  the  Indian 
Congress. 

In  1908  we  find  him  win  the  greatly  coveted  dis- 
tinction of  being  elected  the  President  of  the  Congress 
that  held  its  sitting  in  Poona  ;  an  honour  that  lay,  in 
his  own  mind,  quite  beyond  his  fondest  dreams  as  he 
requested  his  elders  for  a  seat  on  the  coach-box, 
when  Mr.  Dadabhai  Naoroji  was  being  driven  through 
Indian  streets  twelve  years  earlier.  Gokhale  has 
been  intimately  associated  with  the  Congress  al- 
most since  its  inception  in  1884. 

He  was  always  an  advocate  of  popular  causes, 
and  movements  aiming  at  a  larger  measure  of 
political  emancipation  and  the  betterment  of  the 
masses,  but  not  being  a  demagogue  or  willing  to  play 
to  the  gallery,  he  was  seldom  very  popular  either 
among  the  Intelligentsia  that  were  disappointed 
because  of  his  constant  love  of  compromise,  or  among 
those  that  were  not  quite  articulate  and  conscious 
politically,  because  of  Gokhale's  extreme  re- 
straint and  caution  both  in  his  utterances  and 
demands. 

Nevertheless,  beyond  the  least  shadow  of  a  doubt, 
Gokhale  has  fully  vindicated  his  title  to  be  a  very 
influential  and  prominent  tribune  of  the  people. 
Having  broken  away  from  the  parochial  views  and 
petty  bickerings  that  gather  round  caste  restrictions, 
narrow  religious  orthodoxy  and  petty  provincial 
rivalries,  he  could  not  command  the  same  amount 
of  respect  and  homage  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  those 
that  summon  the  masses  to  rally  round  banners 
emblazoned  with  popular  catchwords.  His  intellec- 


152  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

tual  pursuits  and  absorption  in  the  larger,  fuller 
vision  of  India's  future,  combined  with  unceasing 
endeavour  slowly  to  realise  the  vision  by  means 
of  concentrated  effort,  incapacitated  him  from 
untrammelled  intercourse  with  admirers,  or  critics, 
which  counts  a  great  deal  towards  popularity  in 
leaders. 

We  thus  always  find  him  studiously  dissociating 
himself  from  membership  of  Gaurakshini  Sabhas 
(i.e.,  societies  for  the  protection  of  cows)  or  partner- 
ship in  anti-cow-killing  agitations,  that  perfectly 
harmless  in  themselves  and  even  laudable  because  of 
the  sympathies  shown  therein  to  hoary  religious 
traditions,  might  occasionally  be  used  by  political 
enthusiasts  as  a  powerful  leverage  for  arousing 
racial  animosities.  If  he  believed  in  eventual 
self-government  for  India  as  the  goal  of  political 
endeavour,  he  would  prefer  that  his  countrymen  work 
ed  incessantly,  honourably,  and  hopefully  by  consti- 
tutional means,  if  possible,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Government,  instead  of  arousing  the  baser  passions 
of  an  excitable  populace  through  violent  appeals 
to  a  divinity  of  implacable  hatred.  Lord  Morley 
tells  us  in  his  "  Recollections "  published  quite 
recently  ''(Macmillian  and  Co.  :  255.  net)  that  in 
his  interviews  apropos  of  the  then  contemplated 
Minto-Morley  Reforms,  Gokhale  made  no  secret  of  his 
identification  with  the  demand  for  full  fiscal  and 
political  autonomy  within  the  empire,  and  that  he 
(i.e.,  Lord  Morley),  was  equally  frank  in  his  repudia- 
tion of  the  idea  as  then  lying  beyond  the  region  of 
practical  politics.  The  said  "  Reforms  "  being  then 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  153 

on  the  anvil,  Lord  Morley  tells  us  that  he  invited 
Gokhale  to  co-operate  with  him  by  offering  sugges- 
tions and  advice.  And  never  was  co-operation 
more  prolific  of  better  results  or  more  honourable  in 
its  professed  aims.  But  to  quote  Morley 's  exact 
words  :  "I  had  a  farewell  talk  with  Gokhale.  .  .  . 
On  the  whole  his  tone  both  attracted  and  impressed 
me.  He  promises  very  confidently  a  good  reception 
for  our  Reforms  by  the  Congress.  .  .  .  But 
whether  dealing  with  Parnell,  Gokhale,  or  any  other 
of  the  political  breed,  I  have  a  habit  of  taking  them 
to  mean  what  they  say  until  and  unless  I  find  out 
a  trick.  Parnell  always  so  long  as  we  were  friends  or 
allies,  treated  me  perfectly  honourably.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Gokhale  is  to  stay  in  London  until  the  end  of  the 
session,  and  I  am  in  good  hopes  of  finding  him  a 
help  to  me,  and  not  a  hindrance,  in  guiding  the  strong 
currents  of  democratic  feeling  that  are  running 
breast  high  in  the  House  of  Commons.  ("  Recol- 
lections," pp.  171,  286,  321). 

We  are  now  referring  to  the  events  that  passed 
with  such  dramatic  rapidity  in  the  course  of  the  year 
1909.  India  was  then  seething  with  political  excite- 
ment and  vague  hopes  of  a  more  promising  future. 
There  were  sporadic  outbreaks  of  uncontrollable 
feeling,  but  not  of  any  appreciable  magnitude  to 
alarm  level-headed  statesmen,  at  the  helm  of  affairs. 
Those  were  feelings  of  disappointment  over  pledges 
that  lay  unredeemed  and  brilliant  flourishes  of 
rhetoric  that  led  neither  to  political  reform  worth 
mentioning  nor  even  to  amelioration  of  the  sad  lot 
of  the  peasantry  and  the  masses. 


154  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

The  ground-'down  peasantry  were  overburdened 
with  new — and  in  a  measure  oppressive — impositions 
in  the  Chenab  Canal  Colony.  The  volume  of  dis- 
content was  swelling  because  of  the  sad  havoc  caused 
by  the  repeated  visitations  of  plague  and  famine, 
whose  memories  still  lingered  and  rankled  in  the 
minds  of  prince  and  peasant  alike ;  50,000,000 
people  carried  away,  in  a  little  over  two  decades,  by 
famine  and  plague  alone,  in  spite  of  famine-relief 
operations  and  the  discovery  of  the  rat-flea  !  So 
much  for  the  masses.  As  for  the  educated  classes, 
their  minds  were  being  burdened,  tortured,  driven 
forward  by  new  ambitions  concerning  India.  They 
were  dreaming  dreams  and  seeing  visions.  Some  saw 
India  exalted  on  a  temple-throne.  Others  thought 
of  the  honourable  place  she  was  destined  to  take 
among  the  nations.  But  the  actual  realisation 
bore  no  analogy  to  the  dreams  or  the  tragic 
suffering  mentally  endured  by  those  in  whose 
blood  burned  the  consuming  fires  of  patriotism  or 
whose  imaginations  were  electrified  by  Japan's 
astounding  victories  over  Russia,  as  if  these  were 
symbols  that  Asia's  age-long  secular  slavery  to 
Europe  was  coming  to  an  end.  Before  Lord  Minto's 
assumption  of  Viceroy  alt  y,  it  was  young  India's 
misfortune  to  be  saddled  with  a  Viceroy,  ablest  no 
doubt  among  any  on  whose  shoulders  the  burden  of 
government  has  fallen,  and  possessing  great  capacity 
for  work,  but  impatient  of  new  ideals  that  throbbed 
in  the  heart  of  new  India  ;  imperious  and  dictatorial 
to  a  degree  ;  disdainful  of  public  opinion  and  with 
political  vision  tainted  with  the  worst  ideals  of 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  155 

unscrupulous  imperialism.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
mention  the  name  of  this  distinguished  individual. 
Never  before  or  since  has  Indian  self-respect  been 
more  remorselessly  crushed  or  legitimate  Indian 
ambitions  more  contemptuously  scouted.  When  a 
history  of  the  repressive  measures  directed  against 
the  renascent  sense  of  nationhood  in  India  comes  to 
be  written  surely  a  whole  page  must  be  dedicated  to 
this  chauvinistic  viceroy,  who  in  other  respects,  has 
no  doubt  rendered  remarkable  services  to  India. 

It  is  to  Gokhale's  credit  that  passing  through  the 
ordeals  of  these  highly  critical  and  trying  times, 
and  sharing,  to  a  large  degree,  the  experiences  and 
emotions  that  were  pulsating  in  the  breasts  of  his 
countrymen,  he  never  let  fall  one  word  from  his 
lips  that  might  be  construed  as  a  counsel  of  despair, 
nor  encouraged  another  to  send  round  a  word  that 
might  unlock  the  floodgates  of  passion  and  rancour. 
He  seldom  broke  faith  or  went  back  on  his  word, 
unless  he  was  convinced  that  he  had  taken  a  false 
step  or  the  facts  on  which  he  relied  were  tainted  at 
their  source  or  misinterpreted  in  the  heat  of  the 
moment. 

It  is  true  that  at  the  Surat  Congress  of  1906,  he 
condemned  the  lettres  de  cachet  issued  by  Lord 
Curzon  as  reminiscent  of  Aurangzeb's  severity,  and 
that,  moreover,  he  fully  upheld  and  supported  the 
now  historic  resolution  on  boycott  of  Lancashire 
goods.  But  in  all  this,  we  see  no  divergence  from  his 
normal  behaviour.  He  would  always  urge  the 
adoption  of  mild  and  moderate  measures  until  the 
resources  of  human  patience  were  exhausted,  and  he 


156  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

saw  no  ground  for  hope  that  the  authorities  were  likely 
to  yield  to  the  reasonable  and  persistent  pressure  of 
moderate  appeal.  Besides,  in  his  economic  creed  he 
was  a  convinced  and  consistent  protectionist,  as 
most  Indian  capitalists  and  publicists  are,  and 
from  his  place  in  the  Imperial  Council  his  speeches 
urged  the  abolition  of  excise  duty  on  Indian 
cotton.  But  under  the  tension  of  those  times,  the 
transition  from  a  mild  form  of  protection  for  nascent 
industries  to  the  wholesale  boycott  of  all  goods  of 
foreign  origin,  was  very  much  accelerated  by  the 
trying  episodes  of  the  Curzonian  regime.  Besides, 
the  sentiments  he  then  expressed  were  not  so  much 
individual  as  one  of  a  group  of  related  convictions 
that  heralded  the  advent  of  a  new  industrial  India. 
Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  has  been,  no  doubt,  the 
veteran  protagonist  of  the  rights  of  Indian  Labour 
in  the  colonies  of  the  Empire.  And  it  is  only  for 
the  last  few  years,  since  the  outbreak  of  war,  that  he 
has  retired,  having  won  the  brightest  laurels  open  to 
meritorious  and  effective  service  of  a  patriotic  nature. 
His  propaganda,  organised  as  it  was,  of  passive  resist- 
ance, achieved  partial  success  occasionally  when 
appeals  and  entreaties  appeared  futile  and  the 
pressure,  reluctantly  exerted  by  Home  authorities 
was  quietly  ignored  or  speciously  explained  away. 
But  it  must  be  here  recorded  that  though  Mr.  Gandhi 
was  the  veteran  leader  on  the  spot,  Mr.  Gokhale  was 
an  equally  earnest  and  convinced  advocate  of  the 
grievances  of  Indentured  Labour  in  the  Council 
Chamber,  nor  must  it  be  forgotten  that  on  his  election 
to  the  Viceregal  Council,  after  the  inauguration  of  the 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  157 

Minto-Morley  Reforms,  the  first  brilliant  speech  that 
he  delivered,  and  which  was  conspicuous  for  its 
reasonableness  and  masterly  presentation  of  facts, 
was  one  that  eloquently  and  with  great  emotion 
championed  the  cause  of  the  Indian  labourer,  whose 
indignities  and  oppressions  make  very  sad  reading. 

Just  as  memorable  was  the  visit  arranged  by  the 
Indian  Government  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him 
to  make  personal  investigations  on  the  spot  in 
South  Africa.  Gokhale  on  his  arrival  there  was 
received  with  the  utmost  cordiality  and  respect 
by  Generals  Botha,  Smuts  and  others,  was  given 
every  facility  for  studying  the  facts  for  himself, 
and  for  the  due  investigation  of  the  phenomena 
concerned.  Even  those  who  suggest  that  the 
warm  and  enthusiastic  reception  given  him  by 
the  South  African  Government,  and  the  honour 
and  confidence  bestowed  on  him  by  the  Home 
Government  led  him  to  make  a  dangerous  com- 
promise at  least  in  theory,  in  respect  of  the  right  of 
free  entry  enjoyed  by  all  British  subjects  into  any 
colony  of  the  Empire,  will  have  to  concede  that  an  inch 
of  solid  advance  made  in  fact  is  preferable,  to  say  the 
least  about  it,  to  a  mile  of  problematic  advance  in 
theory.  Gokhale  must  be  fully  conscious  that  the 
right  to  migrate  to  and  from  component  parts  of  the 
Empire  was  the  potential  birthright  of  his  country- 
men. But  he  was  also  aware  of  the  disturbing  fact 
that  public  opinion  in  the  colony  was  not  amenable 
to  philosophical  considerations,  that  racial  prejudice 
existed,  that  the  composite  character  of  the  popula- 
tion there  complicated  matters  still  more,  and  that 


158  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

even  among  European  colonists  there  were  people  in 
different  stages  of  civilisation  ;  and  finally  that  such 
embarrassing  considerations  as  differences  in  standards 
of  comfort,  and  racial  characteristics,  could  not 
be  revolutionised  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  or  a  single 
word  of  mouth.  So  he  welcomed  the  opportunities 
where  his  mediation  could  bear  fruit,  and  instead  of 
wasting  time  on  an  academic  discussion  of  the  rights 
of  British  citizenship,  which  might  only  exist  on 
paper,  he  tried  to  improve  the  situation  enough  to 
cause  immediate  relief,  even  though  the  difficulties 
and  disabilities  that  yet  remain  afford  plentiful 
material  for  the  exercise  of  bold  statesmanship, 
and  the  sustaining  of  organised  agitation  on  the 
part  of  leaders  and  followers  alike.  We  see  in  all 
this,  evidence  of  practical  instincts,  which  led  him 
beyond  the  subtleties  of  a  mere  discussion  of  theories, 
and  theories  which  might  have  left  others  despair- 
ing and  despondent,  stimulated  Gokhale's  efforts 
towards  the  achievement  of  the  practical,  even 
though  his  idealism  had  to  be  tempered  with  what 
were  only  hard  unwelcome  facts  of  an  ugly 
situation. 

But  the  achievement  of  Gokhale's  which  will  lift 
him-  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame,  was  his  failure 
(or  what  seemed  like  failure)  in  getting  his  Education 
Bill  for  free  and  compulsory  instruction  for  the 
masses  passed  by  the  Imperial  Council !  He  no 
doubt  failed  in  his  objective,  but  by  his  heroic  efforts 
towards  stimulating  public  opinion  and  even  edu- 
cating the  official  mind  out  of  indifference  to  the 
stupendous  volume  of  India's  illiteracy,  and  the  moral 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  159 

and  material  helplessness  which  it  connotes,  he  has 
done  more  than  perhaps,  he  himself  had  sufficiently 
thought.  For  to-day  people  have  begun  to  realise 
that  the  problem  is  an  urgent  one,  and  needs  diplo- 
matic and  even  generous  handling.  To-day,  if  a 
similar  bill  were  to  be  manoeuvred  through  the 
Council,  even  nominated  members  would  vote  in  its 
favour,  and  even  the  Moslem  League  would  heartily 
endorse  its  soundness  and  desirability.  It  was  no 
revelation  of  Gokhale's  that  after  a  century  and  a 
half  of  British  rule,  only  ten  per  cent,  of  men  and 
one  per  cent,  of  women  had  derived  the  benefits  of 
rudimentary  instruction. 

But,  even  so,  the  focussing  of  public  interest  on 
this  question,  and  on  the  recognition  that  no  sub- 
stantial political  progress  or  even  social  advance  is 
possible  apart  from  the  upliftment  of  the  masses,  has 
been  encouraged  as  the  necessary  sequel  to  Gokhale's 
passion  for  this  much  needed  reform. 

The  Government  of  India,  we  understand,  viewed 
this  modest  measure  with  sympathy  and  even 
approval,  if  only  because  of  the  progressive  views 
entertained  by  Sir  Harcourt  Butler,  the  Member  for 
Education.  But  the  Provincial  Governments  were 
not  so  advanced  as  to  welcome  this  step  big  with 
meaning  and  promise  for  the  future  of  India. 
Besides,  there  were  even  popular  bodies  that  had  not 
sufficiently  intelligently  grasped  the  import  of  this 
proposal.  Still  it  has  stung  the  Government  into 
strenuous  activity  and  it  has  discouraged  lethargy 
and  indifference,  on  the  part  of  the  people, 

No  less  admirable  was  his  able   marshalling  of 


i6o  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


statistics  and  his  moderate  though  exceedingly 
convincing  presentation  of  fact  and  argument. 

His  command  over  the  English  language,  his 
mastery  of  the  methods  of  debate,  his  appreciation 
of  friends,  and  fairness  towards  opponents,  called 
forth  the  admiration  and  respect  of  all  that  had 
dealings  with  him. 

Even  such  a  past-master  in  literary  style  and 
adept  at  handling  figures  as  Lord  Curzon,  declared  in 
Council — not  once  or  twice  but  repeatedly — that  it 
was  a  rare  honour  "  to  cross  swords  with  the 
Honourable  Mr.  Gokhale."  Sir  Guy  Fleetwood 
Wilson,  the  late  Finance  Minister  of  the  Government 
of  India,  used  to  compare  him  to  Mr.  Gladstone  in 
point  of  his  great  ability  in  the  accurate  handling 
of  data,  and  the  right  interpretation  of  statistics. 
When  owing  to  his  unavoidable  absence  from  the 
Council  chamber,  occasioned  by  his  nomination  to  a 
membership  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  public 
services  of  India,  his  unique  qualities  of  "  Leader  of 
His  Majesty's  Opposition  "  were  greatly  missed, 
Sir  Guy  frankly  confessed  before  the  Members  that 
the  discussion  of  the  Annual  Budget  without  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Gokhale  was  "  like  the  study  of 
Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left  out." 

No  less  conspicuous  were  Gokhale' s  efforts  while 
member  of  the  Royal  Islington  Commission  to  press 
forward  Indian  claims,  to  plead  for  the  removal 
of  racial  bars  and  colour  bars  and  the  fuller  concession 
to  them  of  positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  ; 
for  the  initiation  of  a  generous  policy  which  will 
recognise  the  primacy  of  the  claims  of  Indians  in  their 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  161 

own  country ;  for  a  fairer  recognition  of  Indian 
talent  and  administrative  capacity  by  giving  to  them 
higher  appointments  than  the  narrow-minded 
policy  of  the  day  had  made  possible.  By  skilful 
thrust-and-parry  in  cross-questioning  ;  by  offer- 
ing information  where  desirable ;  by  combating 
ingenious  subterfuges  and  specious  arguments  offered 
by  the  Bureaucracy  in  India  as  a  reason  for 
shutting  out  Indians  from  the  higher  rungs 
of  the  official  ladder,  Mr.  Gokhale  did  splendid 
service  to  the  Indian  cause.  And  though  Mr. 
Bhupendra  Nath  Basu,  the  present  Indian  Member 
of  the  Council  for  India,  has  already  characterised 
the  final  Report  of  the  Commission  as  "  a  mere  scrap 
of  paper  fit  for  the  waste-basket,"  in  the  presence  of 
Lord  Chelmsford,  it  is  also  true  that  whatever 
embodied  in  the  Commission's  Report  points  to  the 
dawning  of  an  ampler  day  for  the  youth  of  India  is 
mainly  owing  to  Gokhale's  able  and  expert  advocacy 
of  legitimate  claims,  in  the  teeth  of  the  organised 
resistance  opposed  by  the  vested  interests  in  India. 
Gokhale  was  by  no  means  an  imperialist,  but  he 
was  genuinely  loyal  to  the  Imperial  economy,  partly 
because  of  his  conviction  that  a  strong  and  stable 
government  was  essential  to  the  Indian  development ; 
partly  because  he  thought  of  the  British  connection 
as,  in  the  judgment  of  the  more  desirable  element 
among  the  Empire-builders,  consisting  of  a  feder- 
ation of  races  engaged  in  achieving  common  ends ; 
but  mainly  because  of  the  feeling  that  as  the  British 
democracy  takes  an  increasing  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Dependency,  it  will  be  possible  for  Indians, 

11 


162  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


within  the  economy  of  the  Empire,  to  rise  to  the  full 
stature  of  their  height.  He  was  fully  sensible  of  the 
humiliations  to  which  a  subject-race  is  submitted. 
And  as  a  member  of  a  race  that  shortly  before  the 
establishment  of  British  ascendancy  wielded  the 
reins  of  Empire,  he  must  certainly  be  looking  forward 
to  India's  entering  on  her  fuller  inheritance,  on  an 
equality  with  the  sister-nations  of  the  Commonwealth. 

In  the  meanwhile,  he  acquiesced  in  India's  present 
anomalous  predicament  as  a  part  of  the  discipline  of 
growth,  so  that  she  may  thus  learn  to  set  her  house 
in  order  and  acquire  that  spirit  of  unity,  catholicity 
and  co-operation,  without  which  no  nation  can  ever 
stand  on  her  own  feet. 

But  friendly  and  genial  as  Gokhale  ever  was, 
he  could  pour  out  vials  of  wrath  on  measures  which 
he  held  to  be  inconsistent  with  liberty  or  justice. 
Only  he  would  never  let  his  speech  degenerate  into 
venomous  diatribes  or  caustic  personal  attacks. 
He  had  the  fully  developed  instincts  of  a  perfect 
gentleman. 

Gokhale  was  fond  of  manly  out-door  sports  like 
cricket  and  football,  though  he  never  excelled  in 
either,  also  of  billiards  and  other  indoor  games,  cards 
included.  He  was  thorough  in  his  work  always, 
but  he  would  let  work  accumulate  for  a  season,  and 
then  when  the  humour  for  industrious  application 
seized  him,  he  would  start  to  clear  off  whole  piles 
of  arrears,  and  would  not  rest  till  the  task  was  quite 
accomplished. 

His  death  on  20th  February,  1915,  removed  a  ver} 
striking  personality  and  a  restraining  influence  frorr 


GOPALA  KRISHNA  GOKHALE  163 

Indian  politics.  Shortly  before  his  death,  he  very 
politely  and  with  great  dignity  declined  the  offer  of 
a  K. C.S.I.,  communicated  through  Lord  Crewe,  then 
Secretary  of  State  for  India,  as  he  sincerely  felt  that 
the  acceptance  of  this  great  personal  distinction 
might  hamper  his  public  activities. 


IX 
M.    K.   GANDHI 


GANDHI  comes  of  an  influential  family  of  noble 
lineage,  and  was  born  in  Porbander,  on  the  2nd  of 
October,  1869,  where  his  father,  Karam  Chand,  was 
Prime  Minister  to  the  Thakur  Sahib  of  Rajkot. 
He  was  the  youngest  of  three  children  in  the 
Dewan  Sahib's  family.  After  matriculating  from 
Ahmedabad,  Mohan  Das,  the  subject  of  the  present 
sketch,  wanted  to  graduate  from  the  Bhavnagar 
College,  but  a  shrewd  Brahmin  friend,  who  was 
Gandhi's  adviser,  suggested  that  he  should  proceed 
to  London  and  qualify  for  the  Bar,  if  he  meant  to 
acquire  influence  and  fame.  Mohan  Das'  brother, 
with  characteristic  generosity,  sold  the  greater  part 
of  his  property  to  supply  the  younger  brother  with 
funds  that  would  make  the  contemplated  adventure 
possible.  But  his  mother,  who  had  heard  of  the 
numerous  temptations  to  which  youth  may  succumb 
in  London,  was  greatly  perturbed  in  her  mind,  and 
consented  only  when  the  young  Mohan  Das  took  a 
solemn  vow — a  threefold  vow  of  renunciation — that 
he  would  on  principle  abstain  from  meat,  wine  and 
women. 

In  spite  of  strong  incitements  to  the  contrary, 
Gandhi  refused  to  touch  meat  even  on  social  functions, 
though  he  took  rather  kindly  to  dancing  and  violin 


M.  K.  GANDHI  165 

playing,  which  he  soon  gave  up  as  being  a  not  quite 
congenial  recreation.  It  must  have  been  an  amusing 
sight  when  Gandhi,  dressed  in  coloured  flannels,  arrived 
at  Hotel  Victoria,  one  September  morning,  in  1888, 
and  was  puzzled  to  see  so  many  Londoners'  gaze 
fixed  on  his  picturesque  dress  !  He  was  convinced 
that  some  very  rough  weather  was  in  store  for  him 
in  London ! 

Throughout  his  stay  in  London  he  scorned  delights 
and  lived  laborious  days,  and  his  joy  knew  no  bounds 
when  in  1891  he  was  called  to  the  Bar  as  member  of 
the  Inner  Temple,  one  of  the  most  exclusive  of  the 
Inns  of  Court.  He  always  lived  frugally,  seldom 
letting  his  weekly  expense  exceed  £i,  and  carefully 
abstaining  from  every  form  of  luxury. 

He  made  numerous  English  friends  in  London. 
He  was  very  fond  of  listening  to  Archdeacon  Farrar's 
sermons,  but  Dr.  Parker  of  the  City  Temple  was  his 
favourite  preacher,  of  whom  he  never  tired.  A  friend 
asked  him  to  promise  to  read  the  Bible  he  presented 
to  Gandhi,  but  by  the  time  he  finished  Exodus, 
Gandhi  gave  it  up  in  despair,  as  he  did  not  understand 
a  word  of  what  he  read. 

Gandhi  met  with  the  first  serious  disappointment 
in  his  life,  when  on  his  return  from  London  in  1891, 
he  learnt  that  his  mother  was  dead.  It  was  a  cruel, 
stunning  shock  which  his  friends  and  relatives  tried 
to  withhold  from  Gandhi,  concealing  the  news  from 
him.  Gandhi  was  duly  received  back  into  the  family 
after  submitting  to  the  purificatory  rites,  secretly 
performed  by  the  priests,  even  though  the  members 
of  his  community  were  at  first  so  indignant  over 


166  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

his  contemplated  visit  to  England  that  they  entirely 
washed  their  hands  of  him.  He  wanted  to  settle 
down  to  legal  practice  in  Kathiawar,  when  a  famous 
Indian  firm  engaged  his  services,  to  defend  an 
important  law-suit  to  be  launched  in  South  Africa. 

His  experiences  with  the  people  in  South  Africa 
were  very  unpleasant  and  embittering,  and  greatly 
disillusioned  him.  For  the  first  time,  he  felt  that,  as 
an  Asiatic,  he  was  looked  down  upon  as  member  of 
a  race  that  had  no  political  standing.  He  was  often 
offered  insult  while  travelling,  his  furniture  being 
pitched  out  after  him.  Ridicule  and  insult  would  be 
poured  on  him  because  of  the  dark  pigmentation  of 
his  skin.  Later,  when  he  applied  to  be  enrolled  as 
Advocate  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  Law  Society  of 
South  Africa  resisted  the  application  on  the  ground 
that  coloured  barristers  could  not  be  given  that 
status.  But  wiser  counsels  prevailed  with  the 
Supreme  Court  authorities,  and  the  barrister  of  Inner 
Temple,  London,  was  actually  enrolled  as  Advocate. 

After  having  met  with  a  most  cordial  reception  in 
London,  these  tragic  and  humiliating  incidents  sent 
cold  shivers  through  his  blood.  But  his  courtesy 
and  humility  never  forsook  him,  and  he  would  often 
disarm  opposition  by  the  force  of  his  genial  and 
affable  disposition. 

When  Gandhi  first  visited  South  Africa,  he  found 
that  the  Indian  labourers  and  others  had  no  sense  of 
dignity,  were  perfectly  contented  with  their  lot,  and 
did  not  even  resent  the  shameful  treatment 
accorded  to  them.  It  was  mainly  through  Gandhi's 
efforts  that  the  proposed  disfranchisement  of  Indians 


M.  K.  GANDHI  167 

failed  to  receive  the  Royal  assent.  But  he  did  not 
propose  to  stay  on  in  South  Africa  and  wanted  to 
return  as  soon  as  possible  to  India. 

When  the  Indians  in  South  Africa  requested 
him,  with  one  voice,  to  assume  their  leadership,  he 
yielded  to  their  entreaties,  deciding  to  earn  his 
livelihood  by  the  practice  of  law. 

Gandhi  has  evidently  inherited  the  spirit  of  passive 
resistance  from  his  father,  who  ever  stubbornly  refused 
to  obey  unreasonable  orders.  Once  he  fell  out  with 
the  British  Political  Agent  in  Kathiawar  for  having 
passed  some  strictures  on  the  Thakur  Sahib.  The 
Resident  soon  found  out  that  tying  Karam  Chand 
to  a  tree  would  produce  no  apology  from  him.  He 
had  once  his  house  bombarded  by  the  State  troops, 
because  of  his  refractory  behaviour  towards  the 
Raja,  who  wanted  Karam  Chand  to  carry  out  some 
instructions  contrary  to  the  latter's  judgment 

Gandhi  approves  of  passive  resistance  as  being 
superior  in  quality  to  resistance  with  physical  force, 
and  as  connoting  a  higher  stage  of  development.  But 
the  success  of  the  movement  depends,  according  to 
him,  on  the  reasonableness  of  the  cause  for  whose 
vindication  it  is  organised,  and  the  reality  of  the 
grievances  whose  redress  it  seeks. 

It  is  sometimes  pointed  out  that  political  move- 
ments in  India  have,  as  their  objective,  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  status  of  educated  Indians  and  men  of  the 
upper  classes,  and  are  positively  indifferent  to  the 
interests  of  the  proletariat.  The  very  mention  of 
Mr.  Gandhi's  name  is  enough  to  dispel  the  erroneous 
impression.  Gandhi  may  quite  properly  be  called 


168  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Uhe  greatest  Labour  Leader  of  India,  even  though  the 
•sphere  of  his  activities  has  been  South  Africa,  for 
*.the  most  part,  and  he  has  not  yet  organised  a  Labour 
movement,  constructive  in  its  aims  and  aggressive 
in  its  demands — of  the  type  that  obtains  in  Western 
countries.  In  fact,  Gandhi  would  be  the  last  person 
to  inspire  the  same  ideals  into  an  Indian  organisation 
as  are  operative  in  Western  labour  movements  in 
their  persistent  struggles  with  powerful  capitalistic 
interests.  Being  an  uncompromising  Tolstoyan, 
and  completely  other-worldly  in  all  affairs,  he 
would  abstain,  on  principle  and  in  virtue  of 
his  passivist  and  quiescent  temperament,  irom 
driving  the  demands  of  labour  to  their  logical  con- 
clusion. Besides,  the  masses  of  Indian  labourers 
being  illiterate,  it  would  be  difficult,  under  existing 
circumstances,  even  to  expound  to  them  the  first 
principles  involved  in  the  fiercer  struggles,  in  more 
progressive  countries  for  the  capture  of  power  and 
political  control,  for  the  abolition  of  capitalism  itself, 
for  the  conscription  of  wealth  or  for  the  national- 
isation and  state-control  of  industries. 

The  problems  that  Gandhi  has  had  actually  to 
face  have  been  of  a  different  nature,  quite  remote 
from  the  region  of  Socialism  or  even  that  of  an 
industrial  revolution.  In  passing  judgments  on 
Gandhi's  work,  therefore,  we  must  appreciate  the 
nature  of  the  problems  that  he  has  had  to  face  and 
also  the  solutions  towards  which  he  has  helped. 
And  we  must,  likewise,  bear  in  mind  that  the  utility 
of  Gandhi's  services,  apart  from  their  intrinsic  worth, 
consists  in  his  complete  identfi cation  as  an  intellectual 


M.  K.  GANDHI  169 

and  as  a  member  of  the  upper  middle  class,  with  the 
struggles,  risks  and  hardships  of  skilled  and  unskilled 
labour.  He  has  been  for  the  proletariat,  though  not 
of  them.  Nor  has  his  work  consisted  of  mere  plat- 
form oratory.  He  has  had  to  suffer  with  the  poor 
and  the  oppressed.  On  more  than  one  occasion  he  has 
had  to  face  the  ugly  passions  of  excitable  and  hostile 
crowds  in  South  Africa.  Once  the  timely  inter- 
vention of  an  English  lady  saved  him  from  being 
kicked  to  death  by  some  hooligans  in  a  mob.  On 
numerous  occasions  has  he  been  sent  to  prison,  where 
he  had  to  submit  to  the  indignities  and  roughness  of 
Kafir  warders,  who  would  offer  him  food  that  was 
most  repugnant  to  him. 

When  we  remember  that  Gandhi  is  physically 
very  delicate,  though  capable  of  great  powers  of 
endurance,  we  get  some  notion  of  how  his  severe 
handling  by  the  authorities  in  South  Africa  must  have 
affected  him.  Often  he  would  politely  decline 
preferential  treatment  by  the  South  African  courts, 
and  being  tried  as  an  ordinary  indentured  labourer 
would  accept  the  hard  lot  that  was  bound  up  with 
his  ill-starred  position.  Once,  on  his  return  from 
India,  the  passengers  of  his  ship  were  not  allowed  to 
land,  the  populace  issuing  the  threat  that  should 
they  disembark,  they  would  certainly  be  put  to 
death.  But  Gandhi  was  not  to  be  bluffed.  He 
insisted  on  his  rights,  and  on  those  of  his  fellow- 
passengers,  and  made  the  authorities  yield  to  his 
pressure,  and  on  landing  was  given  the  protection  of 
law,  which  however  did  not  keep  him  immune  from 
the  fierce  onslaughts  of  the  populace. 


170  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

But  the  tragi-comic  nature  of  the  whole  struggle 
carried  on  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  is  obvious 
from  the  fact  that  the  Indian  labourers  were  denied 
the  ordinary  rights  of  British  citizens,  were  treated 
as  little  better  than  helots  ;  often  subjected  to  the 
lash,  and  the  sjambok  for  the  paltriest  of  offences, 
sent  to  prison  for  real  or  alleged  slackness  in  work, 
and  their  economic  status  was  such  as  would  provoke 
only  farcical  smiles  in  civilised  countries  as  well 
as  indignation. 

The  seriousness  of  their  predicament  was  enhanced 
by  their  being  sent  to  South  Africa,  under  the  assur- 
ances from  the  Home  and  Indian  Governments  that 
in  point  of  treatment  they  will  not  be  considered 
"  One  whit  inferior  to  European  settlers  "  and  their 
rights  will  be  zealously  safeguarded.  But  the  flam 
boyant  promises  of  Lord  Rosebery  and  Lord  Curzon 
were  one  thing,  and  the  complete  disillusionment  of 
the  immigrants,  quite  another.  It  was  their  virtues 
of  thrift,  industry  and  prudence  that  aroused  the 
bitter  antipathy  of  the  labourers  and  retail  shop- 
keepers in  South  Africa — and  not  their  vices.  They 
saw  in  these  honest,  frugal  and  hard-working  Indian 
labourers  their  potential  rivals. 

But  the  grievous  anomalies  with  which  the  Indian 
labourers  have  been  visited  in  South  Africa  spring 
out  of  the  evil  system  whose  hidden  menace  was 
either  not  anticipated  by  the  Government  or  else 
quietly  ignored  under  the  pressure  of  powerful 
interests.  That  evil  system  was  one  of  indentured 
labour.  Under  this  system  contracts  ratified 
between  employer  and  employee  could  not  be  revoked 


M.  K.  GANDHI  171 

for  seven  or  ten  years,  however  unsatisfactory  the 
working  of  the  contract  might  be  to  the  parties 
involved.  It  left  no  scope  for  revision,  amendment 
or  termination.  Whatever  the  difficulties  issuing 
from  the  agreement,  its  revocation  was  not  possible, 
and,  further,  its  avoidance  could  be  penalised  as  a 
criminal  offence. 

But  a  still  more  hideous  feature  of  these  business 
transactions — if  such  they  might  be  called — was 
that  on  the  termination  of  the  "  indenture  "  the 
employers  would  neither  undertake  to  repatriate  the 
labourer,  nor  yet  allow  him  to  settle  down  to  some 
business  of  his  own,  but  would  only  bully  him  into 
indenture  again,  so  that  he  might  again  be  compelled 
to  work  on  nominal  wages — two  or  three  shillings  a 
week — for  an  indefinite  period,  the  issue  of  shop- 
licences  being  denied  him.  So  the  labourers  soon 
discovered  that  they  had  not  landed  on  a  soil  that 
was  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  as  the  Employment 
Agents  canvassing  for  recruits  and  unofficially 
co-operating  with  the  Government  had  told  them 
before  leaving  India.  The  most  inhuman  feature 
of  this  brutal  system  was  the  arrangement  by 
which  "fags"  were  added  on,  on  the  ground  of 
bad  work  done.  A  "  slacker  "  would  be  told  that  to 
compensate  for  slowness  or  slovenliness  in  to-day's 
work,  he  must  put  in  an  extra  seven  days  !  !  !  Thus 
a  labourer  would  find  that  slackness  in  five  days' 
work  meant  an  extra  fifty  or  even  five  hundred 
days,  while  the  original  contract  stood  as  valid 
as  ever  !  No  wonder,  then,  that  these  "  slaves  " 
were  put  in  allotments,  refused  entrance  in  public 


172  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

trams    and    carriages    or     admission     into     public 
parks. 

But  incredible  as  all  these  modes  of  ill-treatment 
seem  to  be,  there  was  apparently  no  limit  to  the 
savageries  that  might,  with  impunity,  be  heaped  on 
the  heads  of  these  British  subjects  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  to  be  presumed  that  our  Cabinet  ministers  knew 
of  these  unsavoury  facts,  but  either  felt  their  incom- 
petence to  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  the  self- 
governing  colony  or  perhaps  realised  that  the  sense  of 
solidarity  was  not  sufficiently  awakened  in  Indians 
to  lead  them  to  express  resentment  at  these  indig- 
nities. In  all  probability  it  was  the  former  idea 
that  was  obsessing  their  minds.  But  when  to  add  to 
the  above  atrocities,  certain  courts  of  competent 
jurisdiction  in  Durban  and  elsewhere,  found  that  even 
properly  solemnised  and  legal  marriages  contracted 
by  Hindus  and  Muhammadans  could  not  be  recog- 
nised as  valid  in  South  Africa  because  polygamous 
unions  were,  at  times,  resorted  to  by  them,  and  when 
on  the  ground  of  this  plea  even  monogamous  unions 
were  declared  to  be  illicit,  for  purposes  of  admission 
to  the  colony,  the  Indian  colony  of  labourers  was 
provoked  beyond  the  utmost  limits  of  endurance. 

It  was  during  all  these  crises  that  Gandhi  preserved 
his  equanimity  of  mind,  took  his  stand  on  the  citizen- 
ship of  the  Empire,  memorialised  the  authorities  for 
the  redress  of  their  grievances,  and  when  all  his 
resources  failed  him,  organised  the  passive  resistance 
movement. 

He  remained  leader  of  the  Indians  from  year  the 
1893  to  1914,    when  on  the    outbreak  of  war  he 


M.  K.  GANDHI  173 

organised  an  ambulance  corps  recruited  by  Indians 
resident  in  London,  most  of  them  being  students. 

It  is  a  welcome  sign  of  the  times  that  owing  to 
Lord  Hardinge's  bold  intervention  on  behalf  of 
Indians  in  South  Africa,  some  legislation  has  been 
introduced  which  has  swept  away  the  worst  forms  of 
the  evil.  Lord  Chelmsford  has  since  announced  that 
indentured  labour  has  already  been  abolished  in  the 
colonies  of  the  Empire,  though  we  do  not,  at  the  time 
of  writing,  know  definitely,  whether  in  actual 
practice  or  as  a  contemplated  step,  to  take  effect 
gradually. 

It  is  also  to  be  hoped  that  the  spirit  of  camaraderie 
which  the  common  defence  of  Empire  has  fostered 
among  the  colonials  will  make  the  prevalence  of 
cordial  and  harmonious  relations  a  normal  feature  of 
the  meeting  of  the  races  within  the  Empire. 
,^/y,  W^  Uc  Ire 


X 
KALI    CHARAN    BANURJI 

IT  is  sometimes  suggested,  with  a  poignant  sense  of 
disappointment,  that  Indian  Christians  as  a  body 
have  not  brought  themselves  into  full  accord  with 
national  aspirations  and  ideals.  But  if  we  analyse 
this  statement  we  shall  discover  how  superficial 
it  is.  In  the  first  place,  no  Indian  community  as 
such  has,  in  its  entirety,  subscribed  to  the  political 
ideals  that  are  being  formulated  and  asserted  in  the 
India  of  to-day  with  an  increasing  degree  of  dignity 
and  self-consciousness.  In  fact,  political  thinkers 
and  leaders  have  found  it  an  uphill  task,  even  among 
Hindus  and  Moslems,  the  two  dominant  sister  com- 
munities, to  swell  the  number  of  those  that  have 
broken  away  from  petty,  parochial,  communal 
ideas  and  from  the  pursuit  of  self-interest.  The 
conversion  of  the  All-India  Moslem  League  to  the 
ideals  of  the  Congress  party,  in  itself  the  happiest 
augury  of  the  times,  is  only  a  matter  of  recent 
growth.  Even  among  the  Hindus,  who  have  contri- 
buted the  ablest  and  most  outstanding  leaders  to 
the  national  cause,  it  would  be  inaccurate  to  say  that 
every  educated  member  is  in  full  agreement  with  the 
ideal  of  Home  Rule,  for  instance. 

All  that  might  be  legitimately  pointed  out  is  that 


174 


KALI  CHARAN  BANURJI  175 

Indian  Christians  have  not  given  to  the  national 
cause  the  number  of  thinkers  and  leaders,  as  might 
have  been  expected  from  a  community  that  has 
publicly  repudiated  the  evils  that  hamper  national 
unification  and  which,  therefore,  ought,  in  consist- 
ency, to  be  politically  progressive.  But  when  we 
remember  that  an  overwhelmingly  large  percentage 
of  the  converts  consists  of  men  and  women  that  have 
been  kept  under,  through  the  centuries,  denied 
opportunities  for  education  and  culture  and  are 
to-day  in  economic  dependence  on  foreign  missionary 
enterprise,  we  shall  have  formed  some  idea  of  the 
difficulties  that  beset  their  path.  Besides,  even  in 
the  most  progressive  countries  in  the  West,  the 
politicians  have,  in  the  past,  almost  invariably 
sprung  from  the  leisured  classes,  or  the  go-ahead 
middle  class.  So  that  it  is  hardly  reasonable  to 
point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  the  converted  pariahs  in 
India,  that  they  do  not  keep  abreast  of  the  most 
progressive  movements,  just  as  it  would  scarcely  be 
reasonable  to  pour  ridicule  on  honest,  hard-working 
chimney-sweepers  or  green-grocers  that  they  do  not 
take  sufficiently  intelligent  interest  in  Mr.  Fisher's 
Education  Bill.  How  can  they  with  their  hands  full 
of  the  immediate  needs  of  the  hour  and  the  grim 
struggles  for  mere  existence  ? 

As  Mr.  Justice  Abdur  Rahim  rightly  points  out 
in  his  Minority  Report — appended  to  the  Report  of 
the  Royal  Islington  Commission — that  as  many  of  the 
Indian  Christian  community  as  are  politically  arti- 
culate are  in  the  fullest  sympathy  with  the  ideals  of 
their  fellow-countrymen,  it  is  obvious  that  among 


176  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

them  there  is  no  paucity  of  men  with  vision  and 
ideals  :  only  such  men  are  mainly  recruited  from 
the  better  classes,  conventionally  so-called  ;  men, 
moreover,  with  education  and  capacity  for  thinking 
and  with  their  status  in  life  secure  and  guaranteed 
against  financial  dependence  on  people  that  may 
be  critical  of  Indian  views.  It  has  been  the 
writer's  privilege  to  see  on  the  Congress  platform, 
from  year  to  year,  a  large  number  of  lawyers, 
doctors,  professors,  and  men  belonging  to  other  walks 
of  life,  and  to  the  Christian  Community,  sent  as 
delegates  by  their  Hindu  and  Muhammadan  brethren, 
especially  from  Madras  and  Bengal. 

Among  the  politicals  that  the  Christian  community 
has  produced,  Kali  Charan  is  the  most  prominent,  not 
only  because  of  his  complete  identification  with  and 
life-long  loyalty  to  the  Indian  cause,  but  also  by 
reason  of  his  persistent  refusal  to  allow  Westernisation 
in  manners  to  stand  in  the  way  of  unhindered  social 
intercourse  with  his  friends.  An  Indian  to  the  back- 
bone, Kali  Charan  always  strove  to  raise  the  general 
tone  of  public  life  in  Calcutta,  and  his  intense 
spiritual  earnestness,  combined  with  suave  manners 
and  an  unimpeachable  character,  lent  especial  weight 
to  his  advocacy  of  Indian  demands.  He  even  strove 
to  the  best  of  his  ability  to  nationalise  the  Indian 
Church  and  rid  it  of  financial  and  intellectual  depend- 
ence on  the  West,  and  his  short-lived  Christo-Sama; 
(Church  of  Christ)  was  a  brilliant  experiment  alon^ 
placing  corporate  religious  life  on  Indian  founda 
tions^  From  its  very  inception  Kali  Charan  was  th< 
chief  guiding  spirit  of  the  National  Missionary 


KALI  CHARAN  BANURJI  177 

Society,  which  sprang  up  under  the  impetus  of  the 
Nationalist  spirit,  as  the  community  was  overborne 
with  the  conviction  that  spiritual  autonomy  and 
control  of  religious  organisations  under  Indian 
auspices  was  just  as  important  as  asserting  right- 
ful political  claims. 

Kali  Charan  Banurji  was  born  on  gth  February, 
1847,  of  Kulin  Brahmin  parentage,  and  invested  with 
the  sacred  thread  when  he  was  only  eight  years  old. 
When  only  twelve,  he  was  prepared  for  the  entrance 
examination,  but  was  not  allowed  to  sit  for  it  till  the 
next  year,  when  he  passed  with  distinction  and  was 
awarded  a  scholarship  and  a  silver  medal.  In  1862, 
he  sat  for  the  First  Arts,  and  won  a  scholarship  again. 
He  was  thus  enabled  not  only  to  prosecute  his  studies 
but  also  to  support  his  people,  who  were  very  poor. 
His  father, Harra  Chandra  Banurji, was  very  affection- 
ate towards  him  and  anxious  to  make  any  sacrifice 
for  the  sake  of  the  promising  son.  When  only  an 
undergraduate  he  was  appointed  tutor  to  the  son-in- 
law  and  grandson  of  Prosanna  Coomar  Tagore,  in 
preference  to  many  brilliant  graduates,  by  reason  of 
his  ability,  honesty  and  outstanding  integrity  of 
character.  In  1868  he  was  successful  in  the  B.A. 
degree  examination,  and  stood  fourth  in  order  of 
j  merit,  in  the  company  of  such  eminent  men  as  Sir  Guru 
:Dass  Banurji,  Sir  Rash  Behari  Ghose  and  others. 

He  won  a  gold  medal,  and  was  appointed  by  Dr. 
I  Duff  as  professor  in  the  Free  Church  institution  and 
(the  next  year  he  took  his  M.A.  degree  in  mental  and 
Loral  philosophy,  when  he  was  promoted  to  a  senior 
>rofessorship. 

12 


178  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

His  public  activities  were  varied  and  unceasing. 
He  undoubtedly  did  the  same  service  towards 
cleansing  public  life  of  baser  motives  and  inspiring 
high  ideals  of  civic  responsibility,,^  Calcutta,  as  Sir 
Narayan  Chandavarkar  and  the  late  Mr.  Justice 
Ranade  have  done  for  Bombay.  Throughout  his  life 
he  never  surrendered  his  political  convictions,  but  he 
strongly  felt  that  purity  in  personal  and  national 
life  was  essential  to  efficiency  in  political  propaganda. 

He  would  frequently  lecture  on  religious  subjects 
in  Calcutta  and  Bombay,  and  once  even  went  to 
America  to  represent  what  was  best  in  Indian 
religions  and  to  interpret  the  East  to  the  West. 
He  would  let  his  ambitions  of  success  in  legal 
practice  be  subordinated  to  the  passion  for  presenting 
the  highest  elements  of  the  Christian  religion  to  his 
Hindu  and  Muhammadan  compatriots. 

He   exercised   a   tremendous   influence    over   the 
students,  and  to  come  into  his  presence  was  to  be 
lifted  into  a  lofty  plane  of  spirituality  and  to  acquire 
a   new    consciousness     of     national     dignity.     His 
political  and  religious  presentations  were  alike  free 
from  racial  bias  or  acrinomy  and  exhibited,  at  theii 
best,    his   catholicity   of    temper    and    unflinching 
loyalty  to  definite  convictions.     A  short  time  before 
his  death  he  was  selected  as  delegate  to  the  conven 
tion  of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  ii 
1906  but  his    failing    health    prevented    him    iron 
attending. 

On  his  death  on  February  6th,  1907,  the  whole  c  I 
Calcutta  was  plunged  in  grief.  All  communitic  5 
united  to  honour  his  memory  as  that  of  a  devote  1 


KALI  CHARAN  BANURJI  179 

public  servant  and  saint.  The  whole  of  political 
India  went  into  mourning  over  the  tragic  event. 

"  I  learned  to  love  him,"  writes  Sir  Andrew  Fraser, 
"  for  his  deep  spirituality,  his  personal  loyalty  to 
God  .  .  .  and  his  unselfish  interest  in  all  good 
work.  It  was  specially  delightful  to  see  how 
thoroughly  he  remained  identified  in  interest  with  his 
fellow-countrymen,  for  whom,  despite  the  persecution 
which  followed  his  conversion,  he  ever  retained 
undiminished,  passionate  love." 

The  Amrita  Bazaar  Patrika  paid  the  following 
compliment :  "A  profound  scholar,  a  fervent 
patriot,  a  born  orator,  a  man  of  stainless  character, 
deep  purity  and  sweet  manners." 

Mr.  Surendra  Nath  Bannerjea,  the  eminent  poli- 
tician, addressing  a  crowded  meeting  said  :  "I  have 
never  come  across  in  the  whole  of  my  life  a  greater, 
higher  or  a  nobler  soul  than  the  soul  of  the  late  Kali 
Charan  Banurji.  He  was  the  very  personification 
of  gentleness.  He  had  no  self-assertion,  no  desire 
to  obtrude  himself  into  places  where  he  was  not 
wanted.  Humility — a  Christian,  child-like  humility 
was  incarnated  in  that  guiltless  personality." 

Sir  Rash  Behari  Ghose,  in  the  course  of  his  presi- 
dential address  before  the  twenty-third  session  of  the 
Indian  National  Congress,  paid  the  touching  tribute  : 
'  When  we  think  of  the  lonely  Scotch  cemetery  in 
Koraya  where  the  remains  were  laid,  we  cannot  help 
feeling,  how  much  learning,  how  much  modest  and 
unassuming  simplicity,  how  much  piety,  how  much 
unassuming  tenderness, and  how  much  patriotism  lie 
buried  in  the  grave  of  Kali  Charan  Banurji.  True, 


i8o  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

he  no  longer  lives  in  bis  own  person,  but  he  lives  in  us 
and  will  live  in  those  who  succeed  us,  enjoying  an 
immortality  that  is  not  given  to  many  sons  of  men.'7 

When  at  a  full  meeting  in  Overtown  Hall,  in 
Calcutta,  Dr.  Kenneth  S.  MacDonald  said  that  Mr. 
Banurji  represented  the  Christian  community,  Sir 
Guru  Das  Banurji  at  once  rose  to  his  feet,  and  amidst 
deafening  cheers  said  that  he  represented  all 
communities. 

Kali  Charan  Banurji,  in  his  capacity  as  member  of 
the  Bengal  Legislative  Council,  as  vice-chairman  of 
the  Calcutta  Corporation,  and  as  one  of  the  presidents 
of  the  National  Missionary  Society,  rendered  eminent 
services  in  the  most  unassuming  of  ways  and  has 
exerted  an  influence  on  public  life,  far  beyond  the 
confines  of  Bengal,  which  lives  even  to-day  as  a 
potent  moulding  factor  of  national  importance. 


XI 
BAL   GANGADHAR   TILAK 

"  In  spite  of  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  I  maintain  that  I  am 
innocent.  There  are  higher  powers  that  rule  the  destiny  of 
things,  and  it  may  be  the  will  of  providence  that  the  cause 
which  I  represent  may  prosper  more  by  my  suffering  than  by 
my  remaining  free." — (22nd  July,  1908). 

"  Mr.  Tilak  is  fully  cognisant  of  the  benefits  that  have 
accrued  from  the  British  connection  and  acknowledges  them 
frankly.  But  he  demands  the  transference  of  the  political 
power  from  the  bureaucracy  to  the  people." — Summary  of  the 
High  Court  finding,  when  the  bonds  which  Tilak  had  to  execute 
for  being  of  good  behaviour,  were  cancelled  in  1917. 

IT  is  to  Gokhale's  credit  that  he  successfully  applied 
western  methods  of  study  and  discussion  while  facing 
particular  difficulties  and  suggested  a  solution  of 
individual  problems.  It  is  also  to  be  admitted  that 
he  performed  skilful  and  brilliant  debating 
manoeuvres  when  threshing  out  Indian  questions  in 
the  Council  Chamber  or  on  the  public  platform,  as 
emergency  arose.  It  is  just  as  really  to  Tilak' s 
credit  that  he  has  created,  through  his  untold  suffer- 
ings and  remarkable  powers  of  organisation,  a 
new  environment  of  self-reliance,  wherein  free  and 
frank  discussion  is  possible,  be  the  problems  what 
they  may,  and  has  infused  into  all  political  dis- 
cussion that  spirit  of  virility  and  robust  self-respect 
without  which  mere  academic  discussions  degenerate 
into  an  invertebrate  verbosity.  Gokhale  has,  owing 
mainly  to  his  spirit  of  sensible  compromise,  hammered 

itt 


i8a  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

out  Indian  issues  and  given  them  a  visible  tangible 
expression.  Tilak  has  called  into  being  the  attitude 
of  audacity  and  adventure,  without  which  the  facing 
of  live  political  issues  becomes  a  hollow  mockery. 
Gokhale  may  aptly  be  characterised  as  the  chief 
guiding  spirit  of  political  movements  in  India, 
whereas  Tilak  has  fully  vindicated  his  claim  to  be 
the  soul  of  Indian  politics,  in  Western  India,  at  the 
very  least.  Tilak's  fame  and  influence  have 
travelled  far,  far  beyond  his  domiciliary  limits,  and 
dominate  the  minds  of  the  rising  generation  of 
educated  Indians  as  well  as  those  of  the  illiterate 
and  inarticulate  masses.  His  adherents  are  not,  by 
any  means,  confined  to  Western  India  or  the  Hindu 
masses.  Without  Gokhale,  who  was  not  a  popular 
hero,  political  forces  could  not  be  wisely  controlled  ; 
.  but  without  Tilak  these  will  not  be  generated  at  all. 
Gokhale  had  the  dignity  and  the  aloofness  of  a 
Cabinet  Minister,  Tilak  has  the  geniality,  the  easy 
accessibility,  if  also  the  imperious  disposition  of  the 
leader  of  popular  movements.  Gokhale  would  exert 
diplomatic  pressure  for  being  given  a  few  concessions 
if  these  were  obtainable,  regarding  these  temporary 
expedients  as  the  roadway  leading  to  self-government. 
Tilak  boldly  proclaimed  that  freedom  is  the  coping- 
stone  of  nationality  and  that  a  people  "  knuckling 
under  "  to  a  repressive  bureaucracy  has  its  spiritual 
unity  mutilated  and  its  growth  stunted.  Bat  to  the 
best  of  the  writer's  knowledge  Tilak  believes  in  the 
Imperial  economy,  and  only  demands  that  India 
should,  in  the  near  future,  be  given  autonomy 
like  the  sister-nations  of  the  British  Commonwealth 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  183 

Thus  Tilak  begins  where  Gokhale  would  end  ;  he 
thus  asks  to-day,  as  India's  inherent  birthright, 
what  Gokhale  believed  to  be  possible  after  a  series  of 
concessions  or  favours,  say  twenty-five  to  fifty  years 
hence,  if  not  longer.  It  falls  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
book  to  discuss  the  relative  merits  of  these  two 
different  attitudes,  reflecting  a  somewhat  different 
mentality.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  during  the  present 
war,  the  national  idea  is  being  thrust  into  the  fore- 
ground of  international  recognition,  and  people  are 
realising  that  Imperialism  is  an  unpardonable  sin, 
since  it  involves  the  submergence,  if  not  the  entire 
suppression  of  distinct  nationalities,  to  which 
civilisation  and  freedom  must  concede  the  right 
to  work  out  their  own  destinies  unfettered  by  the 
vested  interests  of  foreign  bureaucracies  and 
reactionary  military  cliques.  That  being  so,  we 
find  it  rather  difficult  to  see  the  consistency  or 
even  the  intelligence  of  those  who  would  fain 
accuse  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak  of  political  anarchism. 
Granted,  that  the  Indian  bureaucracy  find  in  him  a 
most  inconvenient  customer,  with  a  large  and  grow- 
ing following,  gifted  with  an  unflagging  zeal  for 
service,  dowered  with  an  amazing  capacity  for  suffer- 
ing, and  yet  anxious  to  pursue  his  intellectual  pur- 
suits in  his  leisure.  But  vague  accusations  and 
sweeping  generalisations  are  no  proof.  Every  one, 
will,  of  course,  admit  that  the  manner  in  which  he 
used  to  express  his  views,  has  not  always  been  discreet 
or  conciliatory  ;  but  this  is  due  not  to  his  anarchist 
tendencies,  but  to  the  strength  of  his  convictions  and 
the  corresponding  incapacity  for  tempering  the 


i&l  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

severity  of  his  expressions.  Compared  to  the 
moderate  views  of  Mr.  Gokhale  —which,  by  the  way, 
were  just  as  inconvenient  to  officialism  in  India  — 
:  he  may  rightly  be  called  an  extremist,  but  since  he  is 
!  not  out  to  subvert  British  authority  in  India,  the 
1  writer  quite  fails  to  appreciate  the  fairness  or  honesty 
of  those  who  brand  him  as  an  anarchist.  If  his 
approval  of  the  boycott  resolution  and  of  those  passed 
in  favour  of  National  education  and  Swaraj  or  Home 
Rule  for  India  at  the  Surat  Congress  of  1907,  were 
interpreted  as  "  seditious,"  then  even  Mr.  Gokhale 
would  fall  under  the  category  of  seditionists,  since 
he  wholeheartedly  supported  the  resolution  on 
boycott  of  Lancashire  goods.  The  truth  of  the 
matter,  however,  is  that  the  years  iga^jto^  ioj.2 
marked  an  era  of  political  unsettlement,  when  India 
was  passing  through  an  acute  crisis.  Unfortunately, 
certain  things  were  done,  probably  in  good  faith,  but 
in  a  provocative  and  irresponsible  manner,  for 
example  the  partition  of  Bengal  by  Lord  Curzon, 
which  added  fueljjto  the  fire  of  overwrought  passions. 
But  when  the  visit  of  the  king  and  the  announcement 
of  reforms  in  1912,  provided  a  safety-valve  for  the 
pent-up  feelings  and  the  torturing  suspense  of  the 
people,  the  excitement  slowly  subsided,  and  to-day 
we  find  that  the  keen  enthusiasm  for  independence 
that  arose  with  the  growing  sense  of  confidence 
is  slowly  seeking  out  channels  of  expression 
through  co-operation  with  the  government,  and 
in  working  out  a  scheme  of  reforms  that  will 
lay  the  foundations  of  self-government  within  the 
Empire. 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  185 

Tilak  was  born  on  the  8th  of  January,  1856,  in  the 
Ratnagiri  District,  of  a  family  of  Chitpavan  Brahmins, 
that  led  the  Marathas  against  Moghul  invaders,  and 
which  provided  the  Peshwas  or  prime  ministers 
to  Maratha  rulers.  His  father,  who  was  Assistant 
Deputy  Educational  Inspector  for  the  districts  of 
Poona  and  Thana,  in  the  Bombay  presidency,  died 
when  Bal  Gangadhar  was  only  sixteen,  and 
was  about  to  matriculate  from  school.  This 
tragic  event,  instead  of  depressing  the  spirits  of 
the  little  boy,  spurred  him  on  to  complete  his  educa- 
tion. He  was  fortunate  in  winning  scholarships, 
without  which  the  slender  means  of  the  family  would 
be  hardly  enough  to  bear  his  maintenance.  In  1876, 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty,  we  find  him  take  first- 
class  honours  in  the  B.A.  degree  examination,  which 
he  passed  as  a  student  of  the  Deccan  College.  Three 
years  later,  he  took  the  LL.B.  degree  with 
distinction. 

From  the  first,  Tilak  had  a  natural  aversion  to 
being  in  the  trammels  of  Government  service.  He 
loved  the  freedom  which  would  provide  wider  oppor- 
tunities for  serving  his  country.  Having  a  fertile 
imagination  and  great  capacity  for  work  he  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  most  effective  way  of  helping  his 
country  on  to  a  higher  stage  of  evolution  would  be 
through  the  establishment  of  English  primary  and 
secondary  schools  that  might  serve  as  feeders  for 
English  Colleges,  manned  and  financed  by  Indians. 

In  all  his  plans  and  resolutions  he  had  an  able  and 
distinguished  sympathiser  and  supporter  in  Agarkar, 
who  later  became  principal  of  the  Fergusson 


i86  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

College,  Poona.  It  might  be  mentioned  here,  in 
passing,  that  it  was  Messrs.  Tilak,  Chiplunker, 
Agarkar  and  perhaps  V.  S.  Apte  (who  joined  Tilak 
a  little  later  than  the  others)  that  founded  the  Deccan 
Education  Society  in  1880,  in  furtherance  of  whose 
policy  the  Fergusson  College  at  Poona  came  into 
being.  These  were  all  highly-educated  men,  with 
keen  social  enthusiasm  and  fired  with  a  zeal  for 
service,  Tilak  being  the  chief  personality  in  all  their 
deliberations.  Mr.  V.  S.  Apte,  M.A.,  was  a  brilliant 
Sanskrit  scholar — his  book  on  Sanskrit  composition 
being  still  considered  a  useful  book — and  a  dis- 
tinguished graduate  in  arts  and  law  besides.  The 
Sarvajanik  Sabha  was  founded  in  1888,  mainly 
through  Tilak' s  efforts,  the  object  being  to  promote 
social  reform  and  to  keep  the  Government  informed 
in  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  people. 

Unfortunately,  some  minor  differences  in  regard  to 
the  general  policy  to  be  pursued  in  College  work, 
became  sharp  and  acute,  and  led  to  Agarkar' s  desert- 
tion  of  his  colleague,  for  whom  he  had  unbounded 
respect.  Differences  affecting  details  of  social  reform 
came,  likewise,  to  a  head,  and  created  further 
divisions  in  the  friendly  camp,  resulting  in  the  with- 
drawal of  Messrs.  Chiplunkar  and  V.  S.  Apte  from 
co-operation  with  Tilak.  Chiplunkar  was  a  most 
valuable  helper  in  Tilak' s  journalistic  propaganda, 
I  in  the  interests  of  which  he  had  established  the 
Maratha  and  the  Kesari.  It  is  said  that  Tilak' s 
attitude  towards  social  reform  in  general  led  to  this 
wholesale  alienation  of  valuable  lieutenants  and 
colleagues.  Tilak's  friends  tell  us  that  he  is  not,  by 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  187 

any  means,  a  reactionary  in  social  matters,  that  he 
never  gave  his  daughters  in  marriage  till  they  had 
exceeded  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  Hindu  Shastras, 
and  that  he  is  a  radical  thinker  all  round.  His 
antagonism  to  social  legislation  to  be  initiated  by 
Government,  however,  arises  owing  to  his  conviction 
that  coercion  in  social  matters  is  as  demoralising  as 
repression  in  the  political  sphere,  and  that,  while 
approving  of  the  main  principle  of  reform,  he  would 
rely,  almost  exclusively,  on  prevailing  common- 
sense  and  on  the  building  up  of  public  opinion.  His 
critics  ,  however,  tell  us  that  he  is  fond  of  tub-thump- 
ing and  producing  a  sensational,  theatrical  effect  on 
the  populace,  by  bandying  popular  catchwords. 

In  case  of  a  less  powerful  personality,  this  wholesale 
estrangement  from  fellow-workers,  with  whom  Tilak 
had  discussed  the  dreams  of  his  life,  and  with  whose 
assistance  he  had  materialised  his  plans,  would  have 
meant  the  complete  shattering  of  his  life-work.  Not 
so  with  Tilak.  His  courage  rose  with  danger.  And 
right  till  the  end,  he  stuck  to  his  guns.  He  soon 
found  himself  in  charge  of  both  the  papers,  Kesari 
and  the  Maratha.  It  was  for  him  to  dictate  their 
policy  and  conduct  their  management.  We  are  not, 
by  any  means,  blind  followers  of  Tilak,  nor  have  we 
the  slightest  desire  to  extenuate  his  occasional  lack  of 
discretion  or  to  hold  him  up  as  an  ideal  of  political 
sagacity.  We  certainly  view  with  astonishment  his 
attitude  towards  social  reform,  especially  as  we 
realise  that  he  always  has  been  an  advanced  thinker, 
not  only  politically,  but  also  in  the  domain  of  religion 
and  social  development.  But  no  one,  unless  party 


i88  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

bias,  has  completely  wrecked  his  judgment,  can  help 
admiring  his  courage.  And  the  spirit  of  courage  is 
his  bequest  to  political  life  in  India.  There 
are  abler  politicians  in  India,  as  also  men  gifted 
with  better  constructive  statesmanship,  but  no 
politician  or  publicist  comes  up  to  him  in  point 
of  tenacity  of  purpose  and  a  "  bull-dog  "  deter- 
mination. And  none  will  more  loyally  stand 
by  his  colleages  in  the  hour  of  danger  or  contumely 
or  persecution. 

Nor  can  we  consistently  hold  Tilak  up  to  a  charge 
of  apostasy  in  matters  of  social  reform,  when  we 
remember  that  he  considered  the  infusing  of  a  manly 
spirit  in  the  people  as  the  culture-ground  of  all  social 
progress,  and  he  viewed  with  alarm  the  swamping  of 
political  enthusiasm  by  a  mere  agitation  for  arti- 
ficially stimulated  reform.  He  has,  rightly  or 
wrongly,  been  always  opposed  to  playing  into  the 
hands  of  officialdom,  and  he  therefore  stongly  felt  — 
and  we  presume  still  feels — that  all  healthy  and 
vigorous  reform  must  be  spontaneous,  and  be  the 
direct  expression  of  political  emancipation.  Some 
of  his  best  friends  call  him  narrow,  orthodox,  and 
we  are  by  no  means  convinced  of  his  progressive 
tendencies  in  the  past,  in  religious  and  social 
matters.  But  what  we  have  said  above,  will  very 
probably  be  the  substance  of  Tilak' s  reply  to  those 
who  enter  a  caveat  against  him  on  the  above  grounds. 
Besides  his  shrewd  instincts  must  have  prompted 
him  to  take  the  largest  possible  audiences  with  him 
in  political  matters,  and  it  is  the  merest  commonplace 
to  remind  our  readers  that  popular — and  shall  we 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  189 

say  ?  — ambitious  leaders  must  understand  the  psy- 
chology of  their  adherents  and  exploit  flamboyant 
catchwords  that  would  ensure  success  and  swell  the 
numbers  of  followers.  For  is  it  not  true  that  highly 
cultivated,  heterodox  leaders,  controlled  in  their 
expression  and  sober  in  their  judgments,  have  at 
best  a  limited  scope  in  any  country,  leave  alone  highly 
conservative  countries  where  politicians  have  an  up- 
hill task,  because  of  the  comparative  absence,  among 
the  masses,  of  those  political  conceptions  and 
ambitions  of  which  leaders  may  make  much 
patriotic  capital  ?  Are  leaders  to  suspend  political 
action  till  the  masses  have  been  educated  and 
politically  trained  ?  But  that  consummation  may 
only  be  hastened  by  strenuous  political  demands. 
And  those  demands  will  only  prevail,  when  the 
authorities  feel  that  the  masses  do,  in  some  measure, 
back  them  up.  Those  who  are  prone  to  condemn 
Tilak  because  of  his  organising  celebrations  of 
Sivaji's  birthday,  may  well  bear  in  mind,  that 
in  countries  where  political  training  of  the  people 
is  almost  neglected,  some  such  expedient  may 
be  necessary  to  arouse  the  illiterate  masses  to 
vigorous  political  action.  Besides,  an  endeavour 
to  keep  the  memories  of  a  historic  past  green,, 
is  only  natural.  And  we  admire  patriotism 
and  national  fervour  in  other  countries.  We 
naturally  do  not  take  much  account  of  those  countries 
where  people  despise  their  national  heritage.  We 
call  them  decadent,  unprogressive  and  traitrous. 
Why  should  we,  then,  condemn  the  spirit  of  national 
self-consciousness  in  India,  if  its  inevitable  con- 


I9o  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

comitants  are  a  revival  of  pride  in  the  past  which 
can  serve  as  a  guide  in  future  activities,  simply 
because  of  her  political  antecedents? 

We  quite  appreciate  that  the  Government  must 
also  feel,  in  these  matters,  a  serious  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility. And  it  is  for  them  to  direct  this  national 
enthusiasm,  by  providing  legitimate  outlets  for  it, 
instead  of  striving  to  suppress  it. 

But  to  continue.  The  appointment  in  1890,  of 
Mr.  G.  K.  Gokhale  as  Secretary  of  the  Sarvajanik 
Society  severed  Tilak's  last  link  with  old 
friends.  The  organisation  was  later  recaptured 
by  Tilak,  but  the  Government  considered  his 
views  as  rather  intemperate  and  inconvenient. 
And  the  result  was  that  short  and  curt  replies 
were  sent  by  Government  departments,  and 
on  Tilak's  continuance  of  his  bold,  if  sometimes 
irresponsible  criticisms,  the  organisation  was 
suppressed  altogether.  The  only  silver-lining 
to  these  sombre  clouds,  was  K.  C.  Kelkar's 
unflinching  loyalty  to  Tilak  in  all  his  journalistic 
enterprises. 

During  the  famine  of  1896,  he  rendered  yeoman's 
service  to  the  country,  opening  cheap  grain  shops  for 
the  famine-stricken.  His  papers  demanded  that  the 
provisions  of  the  Famine  Code  be  generously  applied, 
and  offered  suggestions  to  the  Government  which 
if  accepted,  would  certainly  have  diminished  the 
volume  of  distress.  When  a  virulent  epidemic  of 
plague  broke  out  in  the  Bombay  presidency,  he 
offered  to  visit  the  homes  of  the  people  as  a  volunteer  in 
the  company  of  Government  Inspectors  and  risked 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  191 

his  life,  more  than  once  by  offering  to  stay  with  the 
plague-stricken,  and  during  times  when  his  "  Social 
reform  "  opponents  fled  away  in  sheer  panic,  Tilak 
offered  his  services  unreservedly  to  the  government 
and  the  people. 

On  the  22nd  June,  1897,  Mr.  Rand  and  Lieutenant 
Ayerst  were  murdered  by  some  unknown  assassin 
in  Poona.  On  the  26th  July,  the  Government  gave 
sanction  to  prosecute  Mr.  Tilak,  as  if  his  propaganda 
were  indirectly  responsible  for  this  outburst  of 
fanaticism.  Tilak  was  sentenced  to  eighteen  months' 
rigorous  imprisonment,  and  denied  even  the  right  of 
appeal,  by  Mr.  Justice  Strachey.  But  some  time 
later,  Mr.  H.  H.  Asquith — now  the  Right  Honourable 
Mr.  Asquith,  late  Premier  of  Great  Britain — pleaded 
misdirection  of  the  Jury,  while  defending  Tilak 
before  the  Lord  Chancellor,  in  London.  Nothing 
came  of  the  appeal.  Soon  after,  Professor 
Max  Miiller  and  others  presented  a  powerful  peti- 
tion to  Queen  Victoria,  imploring  her  to  grant 
reprieve  to  the  distinguished  scholar.  Tilak  was, 
accordingly,  released  on  the  6th  of  September, 
1898. 

In  1908,  we  again  find  him  awaiting  his  trial 
before  Mr.  Justice  Davar,  his  advocate  in  the  previous 
case.  He  was  charged  with  "  sedition,  "  the 
implications  of  that  rather  comprehensive  word  not 
being  made  clear,  and  the  various  charges  being  as 
vague  as  vague  could  be.  Certainly,  no  disturbances 
had  taken  place  in  Poona,  as  the  sequel  to  his  articles 
or  speeches,  nor  were  the  passages  specified  to 
which  exception  was  taken. 


192  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

After  a  long  trial,  throughout  which  Mr.  Tilak 
conducted  his  own  case  with  ability  and  with  a  re- 
markable legal  acumen,  the  sentence  of  six  years' 
imprisonment  with  hard  labour  was  delivered  by 
Mr.  Justice  Davar,  the  Parsee  gentleman  who, 
during  his  previous  trial,  was  Tilak' s  advocate.  But 
wiser  counsels  prevailed  with  the  Government,  who 
recognised  the  ultra-severity  of  hard  labour  in  a 
political  offence,  and  commuted  it  to  six  years' 
simple  imprisonment.  Tilak's  final  statement  to  the 
jury  after  they  pronounced  their  verdict  of  "  guilty  " 
has  already  become  part  of  Indian  history. 

Seven  days'  riots  took  place  after  the  imprison- 
ment of  Tilak,  and  Lord  Sydenham  realised  for  the 
first  time  the  amount  of  Tilak's  influence  in  the 
presidency,  after  resort  to  severe  measures  adopted 
to  suppress  the  riots. 

When,  however,  on  the  expiry  of  this  long  term 
of  imprisonment  Tilak  came  out,  there  was  great 
rejoicing  throughout  India.  Instead  of  this  crush- 
ing sentence — during  whose  currency  he  lost  his 
affectionate  and  devoted  wife — bringing  about  the 
"downfall  of  Tilak" — as  Chirol  inaptly  puts  it  — 
it  actually  helped  his  uprise  in  Indian  esteem  ;  and 
to-day  Tilak  is,  beyond  doubt,  the  "  uncrowned 
king"  of  political  India.  He  is  the  stormy  petrel 
of  the  Indian  revolutionary  spirit ;  not  the  spirit  of 
rebellion  that  is  based  on  hatred  of  the  British  con- 
nection, but  the  wholesome  spirit  of  revolt  against 
the  strait-jacket  of  bureaucracy,  the  spirit  which 
demands  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  really 
autonomous  India  within  the  Empire.  And  even 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  193 

those  of  \is  that  deeply  regret  his  occasional  outbursts 
of  injudicious  utterance,  find  that  in  him  India  has  a 
pillar  of  strength  that  can  stand  four-square  to  the 
winds  of  controversy  and  persecution. 

But  Tilak  is  no  mere  politician.  He  is  a  profound 
Sanskrit  scholar  besides.  His  "  Artie  home  of  the 
Vedas,"  and"  Orion  or  researches  into  the  antiquity 
of  the  Vedas,"  have  commanded  the  respect  and 
attention  of  such  well-known  orientalists  as  Professor 
Max  Miiller  and  Professor  Warren,  President  of 
Boston  University.  Indeed,  his  friendship  with 
Professor  Max  Miiller  was  based  on  the  latter 's 
appreciation  of  his  marvellous  scholarship.  Dr. 
Bloomfield,  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
refeiing  to  Tilak's  Vedic  researches,  said  in  the 
course  of  an  anniversary  address  : 

"But  a  literary  event  of  even  greater  importance 
has  happened  within  the  last  two  or  three  months — 
an  event  which  is  certain  to  stir  the  world  of  science 
far  more  than  the  beatific  reminiscences.  Some  ten 
weeks  ago,  I  received  from  India  a  small  duodecimo 
volume  in  the  clumsy  get-up  and  faulty  typography 
of  the  Native  Anglo-Indian  press  .  .  .  nor  was 
the  preface  at  all  encouraging.  .  .  .  But  soon 
the  amused  smile  gave  way.  ...  I  was 
first  impressed  with  something  leonine  in  the  way 
in  which  the  author  controlled  the  Vedic  literature 
and  the  occidental  works  on  the  same.  ...  I 
confess  that  the  author  had  convinced  me  on  all  the 
essential  points.  The  book  is  unquestionably  the 
literary  sensation  of  the  year  just  before  us  ;  history 
the  chronic  readjuster,  shall  have  her  hands 

is 


I94  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

uncommonly  full  to  assimilate  the  results  of  Tilak's 
discovery,  and  arrange  her  paraphernalia  in  the  new 
perspective." 

While  professor  at  Fergusson  College,  Poona,  Tilak 
was  well-known  for  thoroughness.  He  is  a  brilliant 
mathematician,  but  he  used  to  teach  science  and 
Sanskrit  too. 

During  the  war,  Tilak  gave  loyal  assistance  to  the 
Indian  authorities  in  the  matter  of  recruiting.  He 
eloquently  said  that  at  this  supreme  crisis,  all  differ- 
ences must  be  forgotten,  that  even  in  their  own 
interests  Indians  should  rally  round  the  British  flag. 
But,  as  ill-luck  would  have  it,  the  Indian  Head- 
quarters Staff  wanted  only  mercenary  sepoys  ;  they 
were  not  then  willing  to  accept  the  loyal  offers  of 
service  from  those  who  expected  to  be  treated  as  the 
equals  of  their  British  comrades.  The  military 
authorities  in  India  did  not  desire  to  mobilise  the 
youth  and  generosity  of  India  for  the  defence  of  the 
Empire  ;  they  wanted  so  much  old-fashioned  fighting 
material  that  could  be  more  conveniently  handled. 
But  so  far  as  in  him  lay,  Tilak  co-operated  with  the 
authorities,  and  asked  for  recruitment  to  the  Defence 
of  India  Force.  We  have  not  had  access  to  Tilak's 
articles,  written  during  the  war,  but  from  reliable 
sources  we  learn  that  the  general  purport  of  his 
appeals  has  been 

i.  That  in  spite  of  serious  differences  of  a  domestic 
nature  still  awaiting  solution,  there  has  been 
sufficient  good  understanding  created  between  the 
British  and  Indians  that  could  serve  as  vantage- 
ground  for  future  progress. 


BAL  GANGADHAR  TILAK  195 

2.  That  Indians  must  learn  how  to  defend  India,  for 
a  time  may  come  when  they  must  defend  their  hearths 
and  homes  against  a  powerful  and  highly  organised 
Eastern  or  Western  foe. 

But  in  spite  of  his  assurances  and  help,  the  Indian 
bureaucracy,  quite  heedless  that  the  old  man  had 
just  emerged  from  a  six-year's  imprisonment  again 
restricted  his  movements  and,  later,  asked  him 
to  execute  bonds  for  being  of  good  behaviour. 
This  meant  among  other  things  that  he  could 
not  come  over  to  England  to  fight  his  case 
against  Sir  Valentine  Chirol,  passports  for  England 
being  refused  to  Tilak.  On  appeal,  however,  the 
Judge  of  the  Bombay  High  Court  cancelled  the 
bonds. ' 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  person  who  enjoys  such 
questionable  reputation  at  the  hands  of  the  bureau- 
cracy as  "  sedition-monger  "  and  the  like,  should  be 
a  distinguished  member  of  the  deputation  that 
waited  on  the  Right  Honourable  Mr.  E.  S.  Montagu, 
some  weeks  ago  in  India. 

Mrs.  Annie  Besant  could  have  no  better  colleague 
in  the  working  out  of  her  Home  Rule  propaganda 
in  Bombay,  than  Mr.  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak.  The 
authorities  knew  this,  and  hence  Sir  Benjamin 
Robertson^  Order  in  Council  that  was  promulgated 
some  time  ago,  prohibiting  Mrs.  Besant's  entry  into 
Bombay,  or  Poona.  In  spite  of  previous  differences 
with  Mrs.  Besant,  Tilak  recognises  that  the  launching 
of  the  Home  Rule  Movement  augurs  well  for  India, 
and  so  in  a  generous  spirit  the  old  Maratha  warrior- 
politician  is  quite  willing,  we  understand,  to  help 


196  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

forward,  so  far  as  possible,   Mrs.  Besant's  praise- 
worthy activities. 

Tilak  has  had  throughout  his  stormy  career, 
intense  sympathy  with  the  poor  ryots  of  India,  and 
has  ever  shown  himself  a  zealous  advocate  of  India's 
voiceless  millions.  If  others  have  served  India 
through  their  success,  Tilak  has  indisputably  helped 
India  through  his  failures  and  sufferings. 


XII 
BEPIN    CHANDRA    PAL 

We  take  the  liberty  to  expound  Bepin  Chandra  Pal's 
views  and  state  his  contribution  to  the  national  move 
ment,  first  because  of  our  conviction  that  Bepin 
Chandra  Pal  is  not  a  revolutionary  extremist  accor 
ding  to  any  intelligible  interpretation  of  that  word  ; 
and  secondly,  because  of  Pal's  open  declaration 
before  his  last  departure  from  England  in  1912, 
that "  should  providence  offer  him  the  choice  of  abso- 
lute independence  for  India  with  one  hand,  and  the 
alternative  of  self-government  within  the  Empire  with 
the  other,  I  would  unhesitatingly  accept  the  latter." 
The  very  fact  that  even  during  the  operation  of 
the  Defence  of  India  Act,  he  enjoys  his  freedom 
in  India,  though  some  time  ago  we  learnt  that  his 
movements  were  somewhat  restricted,  would  give 
the  direct  lie  to  the  suggestion  that  Bepin  Chandra 
Pal  is  an  anarchist.  And  of  all  places,  India  would 
be  the  last  to  give  asylum  to  men  of  pronounced 
revolutionary  tendencies,  especially  to  those  who 
occupy  a  prominent  place  in  public  life  and  have 
some  measure  of  influence  over  both  intellectuals 
and  the  masses. 

Sir  Valentine  Chirol  gives  the  following  character- 
isation of  Pal,  in  his  book  "  The  Indian  Unrest  "  : 


197 


198  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

"  Now  if  Swaraj,  •  or  colonial  self-government, 
represents  the  minimum  that  will  satisfy  Indian 
nationalists,  it  is  important  to  know  exactly  what 
in  their  view  it  really  means.  .  .  .  Some  data 
of  indisputable  authority  .  .  .  are  furnished 
in  the  speeches  of  an  '  advanced '  leader  who 
does  not  rank  among  the  revolutionary  extremists  (the 
italics  are  ours),  though  his  refusal  to  give  evidence 
in  the  trial  of  a  seditious  newspaper  brought  him  in 
1907  within  the  scope  of  the  Indian  Criminal  Code. 
Mr.  Bepin  Chandra  Pal,  a  high-caste  Hindu  and  a 
man  of  great  intellectual  force  and  high  character, 
has  not  only  received  a  Western  education,  but  has 
travelled  a  great  deal  in  Europe  and  in  America," 
(page  9). 

In  our  opinion,  it  would  be  much  nearer  the  truth 
to  call  him  an  Indian  nationalist  whose  political 
idealism  leads  him  to  accept  no  compromise  with  the 
pressing  emergencies  of  the  Indian  transition.  But 
it  is  to  his  credit  that  he  has  made  possible  the  first 
beginnings  of  an  Indian  Theory  of  the  State.  He  is 
one  of  the  foremost  thinkers — political  thinkers — in 
India. 

It  is  as  a  thinker  that  Pal  has  made  a  profound 
impression  on  the  rising  generation  of  Indians. 
Agreement  with  his  conclusions  is  no  component  of 
admiration  for  his  thinking.  He  has  made  young 
India  think  furiously  on  nationality,  self-determina- 
tion and  self-help.  Not  that  he  has  organised  a 
movement  through  which  his  ideas  may  materialise  in 
action.  Nor  are  the  ideals  that  he  upholds  realisable 
except  through  some  sweeping  and  dramatic  changes 


BEPIN  CHANDRA  PAL  199 

in  social  conditions  and  political  organisation  among 
the  people.  Let  us  quote  one  significant  utterance  of 
his: 

"  There  is  a  creed  in  India  to-day  which  calls 
itself  Nationalism.  It  is  not  a  mere  political  pro- 
gramme, but  a  religion,  it  is  a  creed  in  which  all  who 
follow  it  will  have  to  live  and  suffer.  Let  no  man 
call  himself  a  nationalist  to-day  with  a  sort  of  intel- 
lectual conceit.  To  be  a  nationalist  in  India  means 
to  be  an  instrument  of  God,  and  to  live  in  the  Spirit. 
For  the  force  that  is  awakening  the  nation  is  not  of 
man,  it  is  divine.  We  need  not  be  a  people  who  are 
politically  strong  ;  we  need  not  be  a  people  sound  in 
physique  ;  we  need  not  be  a  people  of  the  highest 
intellectual  standing,  but  we  must  be  a  people 
who  believe.  .  .  .  Nationalism  is  a  divinely 
appointed  power  of  the  eternal,  and  must  do  its 
God-given  work  before  it  returns  to  the  universal 
energy  from  whence  it  came." 

Pal  would  not  organise  a  rebellion  against  the 
existing  system  of  control,  but  he  would  mentally 
revolt  against  its  alien  origin,  as  it  does  not  leave 
sufficient  scope  for  the  initiative  and  energies  of  the 
people.  To  him  self-government  is  not  something 
that  can  be  conferred  on  India  ab  extra,  it  is  something 
that  must  be  the  spontaneous  expression  of.  India's 
reawakened  energies  and  returning  youth.  In  quite 
a  happy  phraseology  he  somewhere  remarks  that  if 
the  destinies  offered  India  self-government,  on  her 
behalf,  he  would  say  "  No,  thank  you.  We  shall  not 
have  what  we  have  not  deserved." 

Though  in  practice,  the  ideal  of  self-government 


200  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

within  the  Empire  would  be  quite  acceptable  to  him, 
in  theory  he  sees  in  the  so-called  "  Reforms  "  nothing 
but  a  westernising  of  Indian  standards  and  institu- 
tions, unless  the  whole  bureaucratic  machinery  is 
swept  away,  and  the  government  is  remodelled  along 
lines  in  conformity  with  Indian  ideals,  and  the 
national  genius  for  government.  Apropos  of  the 
tinkering  reforms  demanded  by  political  agitators  he 
says : 

"  The  whole  Civil  Service  might  be  Indian,  but 
the  civil  servants  have  to  carry  out  orders — they 
cannot  direct,  the}'  cannot  dictate  the  policy. 
.  .  .  One  civilian,  100  or  1,000  civilians  in  the 
service  of  the  British  government  will  not  make  that 
Government  Indian.  There  are  traditions,  there  are 
Jaws,  there  are  policies  to  which  every  civilian,  be  he 
black  or  brown  or  white,  must  submit,  and  as  long 
as  these  traditions  have  not  been  altered,  as  long  as 
these  principles  have  not  been  amended,  as  long  as 
that  policy  has  not  been  radically  changed,  the 
supplanting  of  European  for  Indian  agency  will  not 
make  for  self-government  in  this  country." 

His  opposition  to  bureaucracy  in  India  springs  out 
of  his  suspicion  of  bureaucracy  in  any  part  of  the 
world.  And  he  would  rather  have  a  tyrannical  and 
conservative  exponent  of  bureaucracy  so  that  the 
evils  of  the  system  may  be  driven  home  into  the 
people's  imagination — rather  than  a  liberal  and 
sympathetic  representative  whose  beneficence  might 
render  people  callous  in  regard  to  the  insidious  work- 
ings of  an  evil  system.  On  this  point  Professor 
Graham  Wallas  observes : 


BEPIN  CHANDRA  PALS  201 

"  A  Hindu  agitator,  again,  Mr.  Bepin  Chandra  Pal, 
who  also  had  read  psychology,  imitated  Lord 
Lansdowne  a  few  months  ago  by  saying  :  '  Applying 
the  principles  of  psychology  to  the  consideration  of 
political  problems  we  find  it  is  necessary  that  we 
.  .  .  should  do  nothing  that  will  make  the 
Government  a  power  for  us.  Because  if  the  Govern- 
ment becomes  easy,  if  it  becomes  pleasant,  if  it 
becomes  good  government,  then  our  signs  of  separa- 
tion from  it  will  be  gradually  lost.'  Mr.  Chandra 
PaJ,  unlike  Lord  Lansdowne,  was  imprisoned  shortly 
afterwards,  but  his  words  have  had  an  important 
political  effect  in  India."  Human  Nature  in 
Politics,  p.  177) . 

Pal's  most  effective  weapon — which  he  has  seldom 
employed — would  be  passive  resistance.  In  a 
country  of  teeming  millions  like  India,  a  revolution 
based  on  physical  force  is  unnecessary.  For  the 
achievement  of  political  liberty, — according  to  him 
— passive  resistance  is  enough.  Boycott  Manchester 
dhotis  that  drape  your  bodies  and  Western  institu- 
tions that  drug  your  souls — and  you  are  free.  To 
the  writer's  best  knowledge,  Pal  has  always 
repudiated  physical  force  as  a  solvent  of  political 
difficulties  and  has  insisted  on  the  need  for  moral 
regeneration  and  the  development  of  self-respect. 
From  an  article  that  he  contributed  in  1915  to  the 
Amrita  Bazaar  Patrika,  entitled  "  The  Coming  of 
Surendra  Nath,"  it  seems  that  he  had  then  relin- 
quished his  previous  Utopian  idea  that  the  machinery 
of  government  could  be  easily  paralysed  through  the 
systematic  boycott  by  the  people  of  British  courts  of 


202  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

justice,  colleges  and  schools.  He  called  the  period 
of  severe  unrest,  when  forces  of  anarchism  reared 
their  heads  in  India,  as  the  kindergarten  stage  of  the 
Indian  political  life  when  people  did  not  take  the 
right  orientation  of  things  and  did  not  know  how 
to  use  the  new-born  forces. 

But  it  must  not  be  considered  that  Pal  is  reaction- 
ary in  his  attitude  towards  the  progressive  elements 
in  modern  culture.  Being  one  of  the  finest  products 
of  Western  culture  Pal  feels  more  at  home  in  London 
than  even  in  Calcutta.  Besides,  he  is  free  from  the 
social  trammels  that  impede  freedom  of  movement 
and  efficiency  in  action. 

Pal  believes — or  used  to  believe — that  the  key  to 
the  future  lies  in  the  hands  of  the  people  themselves. 
This  point  he  elucidates  in  these  trenchant  words  : 

"  If  the  Government  were  to  come  and  tell  me 
to-day  '  take  Swaraj/  I  would  say  thank  you  for  the 
gift,  but  I  will  not  have  that  which  I  cannot  acquire 
by  my  own  hand.  Our  programme  is  that  we  shall 
so  work  in  the  country,  so  combine  the  resources  of 
the  people,  so  organise  the  forces  of  the  nation,  so 
develop  the  instincts  of  freedom  in  the  community, 
that  by  this  means  we  shall — shall  in  the  imperative, 
compel  the  submission  to  our  will  of  any  power  that 
may  set  itself  against  us." 

Pal  is  thus  no  fire-brand,  but  a  visionary  with 
a  hatred  of  shams  and  deep  instinctive  love 
for  reality.  But  he  has  initiated  no  practical 
experiments  whereby  his  ideals  could,  even  in  part,  be 
transmuted  into  action.  At  the  same  time,  he  is  the 
chief  pioneer  in  a  movement  of  ideas  according  to 


BEPIN  CHANDRA  PAL  203 

which  self-respect  is  better  than  supplication  and 
national  freedom  better  than  the  so-called  political 
reforms  that  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  lubrication 
of  the  wheels  of  the  bureaucratic  machinery. 

Pal  is  thus  a  philosopher  of  the  political  renaissance, 
a  Mazzini  of  the  Indian  stage  of  transition.  His 
ideals  have  spread  their  contagious  influence  through 
the  ranks  of  moderates  and  extremists  alike,  and 
much  of  the  virility  of  the  Indian  National  Congress 
propaganda  to-day  is  due  to  its  permeation  with  the 
teachings  he  vigorously  delivered  during  the  period 
of  severe  tension  in  India,  both  in  Bengal  and  in 
Madras,  even  though  for  years  he  has  studiously 
abstained  from  attending  meetings  of  the  Congress. 

His  coldness  towards  the  Congress  is  not  so  much 
due  to  his  extremist  leanings,  as  to  the  thread-bare 
discussions  that  formed  the  sequels  to  the  moving 
of  resolutions  at  the  annual  sittings  of  the  Congress. 
The  sight  of  venerable  delegates  mounting  the 
Congress  platform,  and  reading  learned  dissertations 
or  delivering  perfervid  orations,  once  a  year,  would 
only  move  Pal's  ridicule.  He  would  feel  that  the 
Congress  resolutions  left  the  authorities  quite 
unmoved,  and  that  it  were  sheer  waste  of  breath  to 
deliver  learned  speeches  to  which  those  at  the  helm  of 
affairs  were  not  even  willing  to  lend  an  attentive  ear. 
He  would  rather  see  the  evolution  of  a  superior  type 
of  character  and  self-confidence  in  the  people  which 
would  urge  the  Government  to  advance,  or  rather 
demand  that  it  should  progress. 

Pal  is  a  powerful  journalist  and  wields  a  very  facile 
pen.  He  writes  to  various  Indian  periodicals  and 


204  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

to  some  English  and  American  journals  besides. 
He  is  at  his  best  while  writing  of  the  forces  that  have 
created  new  India. 

During  his  last  visit  to  England  he  delivered 
several  lectures  on  India,  but  though  his  speeches 
were  learned  and  instinct  with  fervour,  his  blunt, 
tactless  presentation  of  truths  did  not  win  for  him 
many  new  converts.  With  his  transparent  sincerity 
he  lacks  the  rare  gift  of  judicious  utterance.  A  mere 
intellectual  presentation  of  opinions,  tinged  with 
burning  conviction,  but  regardless  of  the  psychology 
of  the  people  addressed,  is  not  always  a  successful 
operation,  however  rich  the  content,  or  brilliant  the 
method  of  delivery. 

He  is,  beyond  dispute,  one  of  the  ablest  orators 
/of  New  Bengal :  while  his  love  for  the  Motherland 
*  borders  on  religious  frenzy. 

Apropos  of  his  programme  for  passive  resistance 
he  says  :  "  We  can  make  the  Government  impossible 
without  entirely  making  it  impossible  for  them  to 
find  people  to  serve  them.  The  administration  may  be 
made  impossible  in  a  variety  of  ways.  It  is  not 
actually  that  every  Deputy  Magistrate  should  say  : 
I  won't  serve  in  it.  But  if  you  create  this  spirit  in 
the  country  the  Government  service  will  gradually 
imbibe  this  spirit,  and  a  whole  office  may  go  on  strike. 
This  does  not  put  an  end  to  the  Administration,  but 
it  creates  endless  complications  in  the  work  of 
Administration,  and  if  these  complications  are 
created  in  every  part  of  the  country,  the  Adminis- 
tration will  have  been  brought  to  a  deadlock,  and 
made  none  the  less  impossible,  for  the  primary  thing 


BEPIN  CHANDRA  PAL  205 

is  the  prestige  of  the  government  and  the  boycott 
strikes  at  the  root  of  that  prestige.  .  .  .  We  can 
reduce  every  Indian  in  Government  service  to  the 
position  of  a  man  who  has  fallen  from  the  dignity  of 
Indian  citizenship.  .  .  .  Passive  resistance  is 
recognised  as  legitimate  in  England.  It  is  legitimate 
in  theory  even  in  India,  and  if  it  is  made  illegal  by 
new  legislation,  these  laws  will  infringe  on  the 
primary  rights  of  personal  freedom.  .  .  .  With- 
out positive  training  no  self-government  will  come 
to  the  boycotter.  It  will  come  through  the  organ- 
isation of  our  village  life  ;  of  our  Taluks  and  districts. 
Let  our  programme  include  the  setting  up  of 
machinery  for  popular  administration,  and  running 
parallel  to,  but  independent  of,  the  existing  adminis- 
tration of  the  Government." 

We  are  of  opinion  that  during  the  initial  stages  of 
the  political  agitation  in  India,  Pal's  views  and  ideas 
have  been  of  considerable  utility  in  arousing  the 
people  from  the  slumber  of  centuries.  But  under 
existing  conditions  in  India  when  political  self -con- 
sciousness is  expressing  itself  in  definite  demands, 
only  organisation  along  peaceful  lines  would  achieve 
what  intellectually,  Pal  has  stated  with  such  precision 
and  force.  Propaganda  must  become  systematic, 
practical  and  be  conducted  on  intelligent  lines,  with 
the  hard-headedness  of  a  bank  manager  and  the 
specialised  aptitude  of  the  expert. 


XIII 
ARABINDA    GHOSE 

"  Truth  is  with  us,  Justice  is  with  us,  nature  is  with  us,  and 
the  law  of  God,  which  is  higher  than  human  law  justifies  our 
action." — From  ARABINDA  GHOSE 's  manifesto  on  Indian 
Nationalism. 

LIKE  Bepin  Chandra  Pal,  Ghose  stands  for  a  new 
movement  of  ideas,  and  not  as  leader  of  a  political 
organisation.  But  if  Pal's  ambition  has  been  to 
impregnate  the  minds  of  the  young  with  a  new 
vision  ;  Ghose's  ambition  was  to  capture  existing 
organisations  for  the  spread  of  his  ideas.  Pal  has 
been  anxious  to  see  the  triumph  of  high  ideals 
over  petty  details  ;  Ghose  strongly  felt  that  only 
through  action  could  enthusiasm  be  reinforced  or 
vision  enlarged. 

Thus  we  see  that  right  up  to  the  moment  of  his 
tragic  retirement  from  public  life  into  political  exile 
in  Pondicherry,  Ghose  was  anxious  to  capture  the 
Indian  National  Congress,  together  with  other 
"  extremist  "  leaders,  and  to  change  it  into  an 
institution  for  educating  public  opinion  and  as  a 
training  ground  for  political  thinkers.  He  also  felt 
the  need  for  reorganising  the  district  and  provincial 
conferences,  so  that  work  may  be  continuous  through- 
out the  year,  that  the  delegates  may  really  represent 

206 


ARABINDA  GHOSE  207 

the  people,  and  that  the  new  spirit  of  self-confidence 
may  be  enthused  into  the  masses,  among  whom 
systematic  propaganda  must  be  carried  on  through- 
out the  year.  He  felt  that  the  anaemic  intellectuals 
of  the  Congress  only  represented  themselves,  so  long 
as  the  masses  were  not  well-grounded  in  ideas  of 
public  rights  and  duties.  He  was  convinced  that  the 
annual  efforts  of  the  Congress  were  ridiculously 
inadequate,  and  their  suppliants'  attitude  only 
betokened  moral  inertia  that  disguises  lack  both  of 
training  and  of  vigour. 

His  emergence  into  the  political  arena  was  like 
a  meteoric  flash.  We  find  him  in  1905  resign  his 
educational  appointment  in  the  Baroda  State,  to 
seize  on  the  opportunities  which  the  serious  turmoil 
in  Bengal  over  the  partition  by  Lord  Curzon,  had 
freshly  created.  He  saw  his  chance  and  felt  that  no 
sacrifice  was  too  great  when  the  service  of  the  mother- 
land demanded  it.  He  helped  in  the  organisation  of 
the  National  Council  of  Education  in  Bengal,  which 
provided  indigenous  schools,  and  also  encouraged 
able  and  enterprising  youth  to  proceed  to  Japan, 
America  and  Europe,  for  scientific  and  technical 
pursuits. 

He  was  anxious  to  reorganise  the  district 
and  provincial  conferences  so  that  these  might 
develop  into  media  for  the  stimulation  of  interest 
in  public  matters  in  ever-widening  circles.  He 
infused  fresh  life  into  journalism  in  Bengal.  This  is 
not  the  time  nor  the  place  to  point  out  indiscreet 
utterances  in  the  papers  edited  by  him.  We 
only  wish  to  point  out  his  valuable  services  in 


208  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

arousing  people  from  their  lethargy  into  vigorous 
action. 

In  point  of  intellectual  ability,  powers  of  organisa- 
tion and  leadership,  and  religious  earnestness, 
Arabinda  Ghose  stands  in  solitary  splendour  in 
political  India.  His  simplicity,  his  excessive 
puritanism,  his  love  of  contemplation  and  his 
charming  manners,  enhanced  ten-fold  the  hypnotic 
hold  that  he  had  on  his  followers  and  admirers.  But 
differences  of  opinion  with  his  colleagues  on  the 
nature  of  national  education  came  to  a  head,  with 
the  result  that  Arabinda  Ghose  resigned  both  his 
professorship  in  Calcutta  and  membership  of  the 
Council.  His  strongly-worded  articles  in  the  Bande 
Matram  brought  him  into  open  conflict  with  the 
Government,  but  he  escaped  with  impunity.  Along 
with  his  brother  Barendra  he  was  charged  with 
complicity  in  the  famous  Manicktola  bomb  case. 

Before  Mr.  Beachcrof  t,  a  prisoner  in  the  dock  was 
awaiting  his  trial — in  handcuffs — who  a  few  years 
before  had  established  his  intellectual  superiority  to 
the  presidency  magistrate  in  the  classical  tripos,  at 
King's  College,  Cambridge.  That  prisoner  was  no 
other  than  Arabinda  Ghose,  the  brilliant  scholar 
that  had  easily  floored  the  Indian  Civil  Service 
Examination  in  London,  but  failed  to  pass  the  riding 
test.  After  this  disappointment  Ghose  went  to 
Cambridge,  where  he  won  a  scholarship  and  later 
took  first-class  honours  in  classics. 

Mr.  Beachcrof  t  could  find  no  incriminating 
evidence  against  Arabinda.  So  he  was  honourably 
acquitted.  But  the  police  would  constantly  shadow 


ARABINDA  GHOSE  209 

him,  and  later  we  find  him  flee  into  the  French 
possessions  with  a  view  to  evade  a  warrant  of  arrest 
issued  against  him. 

Arabinda  Ghose's  strenuous  political  activities 
not  only  synchronised  with  the  rising  to  flood-tide  of 
the  Bengalees'  indignation  over  the  partition  fiasco, 
but  with  the  coming  to  birth  of  a  new  philosophy  of 

|  life,  based  mainly  on  the  teachings  of  theBhagvadgita, 
that  affirmed  the  supremacy  of  action  over  mere 
passivity  and  quiescence,  and  issued  a  trumpet-call, 
in  the  name  ot  Dharma,  to  deeds  of  heroic  self- 
sacrifice,  renouncing  the  lower  objects  of  desire  and 
the  hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  consequences.  For  the 
first  time  in  modern  Indian  history,  there  was  a 
resurgent  tide  of  self-confidence  that  swept  over 
Bengal — and  other  parts  too — leading  people  to- 
recognise,  as  never  before,  that  contemplation  should 

I  be  a  mere  hand-maid  of  action,  profoundly  religious 
in  content  and  altruistic  in  aim. 

Arabinda,  no  doubt,  derived  some  of  his  inspiration 
from  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak,  who,  after  his  elaborate 
researches  into  the  Vedas  and  the  Gita  had  come,  long 
before  to  similar  conclusions,  and  whom  Arabinda 
admired  as  a  courageous  political  leader.  It  is  also 
known  that  at  various  conferences,  they  would  meet 
and  have  intimate  association  with  each  other  on 
various  important  problems. 

At  the  famous  Congress  in  Surat,  Arabinda  read 
his  now  historic  manifesto  on  Indian  Nationalism, 
which  is  a  masterpiece  both  in  point  of  style  and 
lucidity  of  exposition.  In  the  manifesto  Ghose 
makes  it  as  clear  as  possible  that  hatred  of  the 

14 


210  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

English  is  quite  alien  to  true  nationalist  propaganda, 
but  that  the  present  bureaucratic  regime  leaves  no 
scope  for  full  development  to  the  heirs  of  an  ancient 
civilisation,  spiritually  superior  to  all  forms  of 
Western  culture.  And  the  right  note  is  sounded 
when  he  delivers  the  assurance  :  "  Truth  is  with  us  ; 
nature  is  with  us  ;  justice  is  with  us,  and  the  law  of 
God  which  is  higher  than  human  law  justifies  our 
action." 

In  a  series  of  articles  on  Karma  yogin  (realisation 
through  action)  Arabinda  issued  the  new  gospel  of 
self-sacrifice  in  thrilling  accents  and  in  a  manner 
that  electrified  the  imagination  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion. But  in  spite  of  his  organising  power  and  con- 
sciousness of  the  need  for  action,  Ghose  reaches  the 
summits  of  spiritual  exaltation  when  absorbed  in 
meditation.  Mr.  Ramsay  MacDonald,  in  his 
"  Awakening  of  India  "  draws  a  graphic  picture  of 
Arabinda  Ghose — or  some  one  exactly  resembling 
him  :  Mr.  MacDonald  in  the  course  of  an  interview 
was  impressed  with  the  tranquility  of  mind  combined 
with  the  aggressive  political  outlook  of  one  who  saw 
India  "  exalted  on  a  temple  throne,"  and  "  across 
whose  path  the  shadow  of  the  hangman  falls,"  and 
who  believes  that  India's  future  is  as  much  bound  up 
with  the  success  of  political  organisations  as  on  the 
intensification  of  spiritualfe  rvour. 

During  the  war,  Arabinda  Ghose  is  reported  to 
have  sent  messages  of  sympathy  to  the  Government 
of  India,  from  his  political  exile.  Interviewed  by 
a  correspondent  of  a  Madras  paper,  Arabinda  is  said 
to  have  ex  pressed  satisfaction,  in  1916,  at  the  increas- 


ARABINDA  GHOSE  211 

ing  friendliness  prevailing  between  the  British  and 
the  Indians,  admired  the  presidential  address  of  Sir 
S.  P.  Sinha,  and  expressed  his  conviction  that  Indian 
politics  should  not  be  petty  or  parochial,  but  worthy 
of  the  grand  traditions  of  a  great  nation. 

Arabinda  has  a  magnetic  personality,  which  com- 
bined with  a  sturdy  independence  of  thought  and 
breadth  and  freshness  of  outlook  singled  him  out, 
during  his  short-lived  career  in  India,  for  unique  and 
distinguished  leadership.  It  is  said  by  his  admirers 
\  that  even  to-day  he  is  helping  India,  if  only  through 
contemplative  exercises,  and  is  sending  currents  of 
spiritual  energy  through  the  life  of  the  nation.  This 
might  be  a  matter  of  opinion  but  even  so,  it  gives 
one  some  idea  of  how  potent  is  the  influence  that  he 
exercises  on  those  that  come  under  his  spell. 

When  the  history  of  the  Indian  Revolution — not 
anarchism — comes  to  be  written,  there  must  be  full 
two  pages  dedicated  to  Bepin  Chandra  Pal  and 
Arabinda  Ghose. 

Referring  to  Ghose,  Sir  Valentine  Chirol  says  : 
("  Indian  Unrest,"  p.  90)  "  With  this  gospel  of 
active  self-sacrifice  none  can  assuredly  quarrel. 
.  .  .  For  him  British  rule  and  Western  civilisa- 
tion for  which  it  stands  threaten  the  very  life  of 
Hinduism.  .  .  .  That  Mr.  Arabinda  Ghose 
holds  violence  and  murder  to  be  justifiable  forms  of 
activity  for  achieving  that  purpose  cannot  properly  be 
alleged,  for  though  he  has  several  times  been  placed 
on  his  trial,  and  in  one  instance  for  actual  complicity 
in  political  crime — namely  in  the  Manicktolla  bomb 
case — the  law  has  so  far  acquitted  him." 


212  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

In  fact,  Ghose  holds  that  spiritual  communion  and 
utmost  freedom  from  earthly  entanglements  lead 
not  only  to  individual  emancipation  but  to  the 
galvanising  of  the  national  consciousness  to  deeds  of 
high  heroism.  He  is  a  Swarajist  and  Vedantist, 
believing  that  the  achievement  of  Swaraj  will  develop 
Indian  spirituality,  and  that  constant  absorption  in 
prayer  and  meditation  and  the  realising  of  one's 
unity  with  the  primal  consciousness  through  self- 
less action,  will  facilitate  the  coming  of  Swaraj. 


XIV 

LALA    LAJPAT    RAI 

NONE  among  Indian  politicians  has  been  less  under- 
stood and  more  misunderstood  both  by  friends  and 
hostile  critics  than  Lajpat  Rai,  whose  political  record 
marks  a  series  of  what  appear  like  petty  persecutions, 
and  a  whole  farrago  of  blundering  accusations. 
It  has  been  his  sad  lot  to  be  condemned  without 
being  tried,  and  to  suffer  without  any  tangible 
evidence  being  produced  against  him.  On  the 
other  hand,  whenever  he  has  launched  a  suit 
against  his  maligners,  as,  for  example,  against  some 
powerful  Anglo-Indian  dailies,  he  has  always  come 
out  triumphant.  Suspected  on  the  basis  of  secret 
reports  concerning  himself,  watched  under  secret 
instructions  by  reason  of  his  unpopularity  with  the 
powers  that  be  ;  deported  without  trial  in  1907 
under  the  express  sanction  of  the  Liberal  Lord 
Morley  :  such  are  some  of  the  unhappy  episodes  in  the 
long  tragedy  of  Laj pat's  Rai's  career. 

Lord  Morley  in  approving  of  Lajpat  Rai's  depor- 
tation wrote  back  to  Lord  Minto  :  "  The  only  comfort 
is  that  my  immediate  audience  will  be  not  at  all 
unfriendly  in  any  quarter  of  it,  though  radical 

213 


214  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

supporters  will  be  critical,  and  Tory  opponents  will 
scent  an  inconsistency  between  deporting  Lajpat, 
and  my  old  fighting  of  Balfour  for  locking  up 
William  O'Brien.  I  shall  not,  however,  waste  much 
time  about  that.  I  have  always  said  that  Strafford 
would  have  made  a  far  better  business  of  Ireland  than 
Cromwell  did,  but  then  that  would  be  an  awkward 
doctrine  to  preach  just  now."  (See  Lord  Morley's 
"Recollections,"  p.  218:  Macmillan  &  Co.).  In 

another  passage  Morley  remarks  :    "  I  see  that 

says  that  this  drastic  power  of  muzzling  an  agitator 
will  save  the  necessity  of  *  urging  deportation.'  He 
must  have  forgotten  that  I  very  explicitly  told  him, 
that  I  would  not  sanction  deportation  except  for  a 
man  of  whom  there  was  solid  reason  to  believe  that 
violent  disorder  was  the  direct  and  deliberately 
planned  result  of  his  action." 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  quite  relevant  here  to  press 
home  the  consideration,  with  all  due  deference  to 
Morley's  judgment,  that  if  there  was  "  solid  reason 
to  believe  that  violent  disorder  was  the  direct  and 
deliberately  planned  result  "  of  Laj pat's  action, 
he  could  certainly  be  tried  according  to  law,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Criminal  Procedure  Code  or  any 
other  code,  instead  of  being  denied  justice  and  the 
opportunity  of  defending  himself. 

In  the  course  of  the  present  discussion  we  must 
necessarily  confine  our  review  of  Lajpat  Rai's 
activities  to  the  period  prior  to  his  departure  for 
America,  for  we  have  no  means  of  finding  out  what 
changes,  if  any,  have  come  over  his  convictions 
or  methods.  For  prior  to  Sir  George  Cave's 


LALA  LAJPAT  RAI  215 

discovery  that  Lajpat  Rai's  allegiance  has  been 
suborned  from  the  Empire,  we  knew  of  him  both  in 
India  and  in  this  country  as,  no  doubt,  radical  in  his 
views,  and  occasionally  rather  injudicious  in  his 
utterance,  but  always  a  constitutional  agitator  and 
opposed  to  methods  of  physical  violence.  On  the 
outbreak  of  war,  he  was  in  this  country  and  issued 
eloquent  and  forcible  appeals  to  young  Indians  in 
England,  asking  them  to  rise  to  the  occasion  and 
loyally  serve  the  Mother  Country,  in  any  capacity 
that  was  possible,  in  her  hour  of  danger.  In  fact, 
we  understand  that  he  travelled  throughout  England 
and  Scotland,  inviting  recruitment  to  the  Ambulance 
Corps  organised  by  Mr.  Gandhi,  for  the  benefit  of 
Indian  soldiers,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war. 

Lajpat  Rai  was  born  in  the  Tehsil  of  Jagraon, 
of  poor  but  intelligent  and  self-respecting  parents. 
His  father  came  early  under  the  influence  of 
Swami  Dayananda  Saraswati.  Laj  pat's  Rai's 
mother  was  very  affectionate  and  sensible,  and 
through  her  strong  personality,  fostered  in  the 
son  habits  of  frugality,  simplicity  and  straight- 
forwardness in  speech  and  behaviour.  It  is  but  fair 
to  say  that  she  had  a  prominent  share  in  moulding 
the  young  boy's  character,  and  whatever  impresses 
us  to-day  in  Laj  pat's  life  as  of  dour  strength  and 
bearing  the  impress  of  sincerity  may,  in  part, 
be  traced  quite  consistently  to  his  mother's  dominat- 
ing influence  on  him.  Equally  potent,  as  a  formative 
influence  in  Lajpat  Rai's  life,  was  his  father's  love 
of  truth  and  country.  We  learn  that  Laj  pat's 
father  was  a  great  admirer  of  Sir  Syed  Ahmad  Khan, 


216  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

before  the  latter  adopted  reactionary  views  on  Indian 
politics  and  assumed  a  position  of  indifference,  if  not 
of  hostility,  towards  the  legitimate  claims  and  the 
constitutional  demands  of  the  Indian  National 
Congress. 

It  is  said  that  he  was  very  fond  of  discussing 
important  Indian  subjects  with  as  many  villagers 
as  came  under  his  influence,  and  that  he  instilled 
into  their  unsophisticated  minds  fondness  for  free 
and  frank  discussion,  and  interest  in  matters  that 
affected  India's  well-being.  Young  Lajpat  matricu- 
lated from  a  school  in  Jullundhur,  and  won  a  scholar- 
ship that  enabled  him  to  take  his  B.A.  degree  from 
the  Government  College,  Lahore,  with  distinction. 
Later  he  took  the  diploma  of  Licentiate-in-Law 
from  the  Lahore  Law  College  and  soon  after 
settled  down  to  legal  practice  in  Jullundhar.  It  is 
ample  credit  to  his  legal  acumen,  industry  and 
popularity  that  in  a  comparatively  short  span  of  years 
he  built  up  a  large  practice  and  amassed  a  modest 
fortune.  During  this  period,  he  was  always  eager  to 
promote  religious  and  social  reform  in  his  spare  time, 
and  was  always  solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  the  masses. 
It  is  true  of  Lajpat  Rai  that  he  was  seldom  engrossed 
in  schemes  of  personal  self-interest,  and  that  he 
always  exhibited  a  ponderous  capacity  for  public 
spirit  without  whose  development  he  felt  that 
political  and  social  discussions  were  mere  moonshine. 

But  success  and  talent  naturally  gravitate  towards 
large  metropolitan  cities  that  offer  abundant  scope  for 
initiative  and  genius,  and  Lajpat  Rai  soon  became 
the  centre  of  attraction  in  Lahore,  the  capital  of  the 


LALA  LAJPAT  RAI  217 

Punjab.  Having  already  served  his  probation  and 
made  considerable  headway,  he  did  not  at  all  find 
it  an  up-hill  task  to  establish  himself  as  a 
prominent  member  of  the  local  bar,  so  to  speak. 
At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered, 
that  even  during  his  palmiest  days  Lajpat  Rai  never 
came  up,  in  point  of  intellectual  brilliance  and 
forensic  aptitude  to  the  doyens  of  the  Bar.  The 
unique  position  which  Lajpat  Rai  for  long  con- 
tinued to  occupy  in  the  public  life  of  the  Punjab 
is  due  more  to  the  transparent  honesty  of 
his  character  and  his  abounding  enthusiasm  for 
service,  rather  than  to  any  unique  capacities 
of  thought  and  mind.  It  is  more  as  a  political 
and  social  reformer  of  the  advanced  type  that 
Lajpat  Rai  has  attained  pre-eminence ;  not  as 
a  scholar,  jurist,  lawyer  or  even  constructive  political 
thinker.  He  takes  life  too  seriously,  is  endowed 
with  but  little  sense  of  humour  and  scores  more 
through  his  saintly  manner  of  life  than  through  any 
more  conspicuous  individual  qualification. 

It  also  has  to  be  remembered  that  the  Government 
of  India  are  mainly  responsible  for  placing  Lajpat 
Rai  on  a  pedestal  of  distinction,  through  their  con- 
tinuous suspicion  of  him  and  a  prolonged  persecution, 
which  to  Western  readers  may  appear  as  a  strange 
perversion  of  humour.  Deported  without  trial ; 
suspected  without  any  formal  production  of  corro- 
borative evidence  ;  branded  as  a  fire-eater  wielding 
tremendous  influence  over  the  masses  ;  such  treat- 
ment is  enough  to  convert  any  mediocrity  into  a 
national  hero.  And  when  we  realise  that  on  the 


218  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

\      eve  of  Laj pat's  deportation,  the  Lahore  Arya  Samaj 

itself   repudiated    any    friendly    associations    with 

him,  and  denounced  his  tactics  as  extremist    and 

lacking  sanity — a  treatment  to   which  Laj  pat   Rai 

later  responded  with  the  chivalry,  characteristic  of 

him — can  we  express  astonishment  at  the  natural 

revulsion    of    popular    feeling   in    his    favour    that 

\  acclaimed  him  as  a  political  martyr  and  converted 

;  him  from   an   innocuous    political    reformer   to   a 

1  political  enthusiast  ? 

Laj  pat  Rai  was  considerably  aggrieved,  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  his  political  career  over 
Syed  Ahmad's  political  apostasy,  after  his 
knighthood  by  Lord  Lytton,  more  especially  be- 
cause he  was  prepared  by  his  father  to  look  upon 
the  Syed  as  a  prophet  of  sweeping  political 
reforms.  As  a  result  he  wrote  a  series  of 
"Open  Letters"  to  the  Syed.  These  letters  are 
characterised  by  his  usual  earnestness  and 
burning  conviction,  though  not  by  any  great  felicity 
in  expression. 

During  the  Rawal  Pindi  and  Lahore  disturbances 
Laj  pat  Rai  strove,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  to  con- 
vince, the  authorities  that  the  best  method  of  treat- 
ing unrest  was  to  remedy  the  grievances  that 
fostered  it,  and  that  mere  drastic  suppression  was  at 
best  futile.  But  the  powers  that  be  brushed  aside 
his  recommendations  as  only  calculated  to  promote 
further  discontent,  and  saw  in  him  not  one  that  was 
anxious  to  throw  oil  over  troubled  waters,  but  one 
whose  only  aim  was  to  intensify  discontent  and  rally 
round  him  the  forces  of  rebellion. 


LALA  LAJPAT  RAI  219 

We  are  far  from  suggesting  La j pat's  impeccability 
as  a  political  leader  and  from  impugning  the  motives 
of  the  authorities.  The  Government  may  have  in 
their  possession  abundant  evidence  that  might  have 
justified  even  a  more  vigorous  mode  of  punishment 
than  was  actually  meted  out  to  him.  All  that  we 
say  is  that  the  evidence,  if  any,  at  the  disposal  of  the 
authorities  was  never  marshalled,  the  public  have 
had  no  chance  to  judge  of  the  character  of  that 
evidence,  and  the  courts  of  law  where  he  could  be 
brought  to  justice,  under  existing  provisions  dealing 
with  disaffection  of  varying  magnitudes,  were  never 
used.  And  we  are  certainly  within  our  rights,  without 
holding  any  brief  for  La  j  pat  Rai,  to  allege  that  the 
mere  whispering,  in  vague  and  nebulous  words,  of  the 
most  serious  accusations  of  appalling  criminality, 
without  resort  to  courts  of  competent  jurisdiction, 
leaves  us  rather  unconvinced  and  conveys  the 
impression  that  the  men  on  the  spot  were  not  only 
ill-informed  in  regard  to  the  causes  engendering  dis- 
content, but  were  seized  with  panic,  a  phenomenon 
by  no  means  uncommon  where  Governments  are  not 
responsible  to  the  people  themselves. 

Finally :  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  when  the 
oppressive  canal  rates  in  the  Chenab  colony  were 
rescinded,  there  was  considerable  abatement  of 
resentful  feeling.  Even  Lord  Morley  was  strongly 
of  opinion  that  these  taxes  gave  rise  to  grave 
discontent. 

In  reference  to  his  other  activities,  Lajpat  Rai  may, 
without  any  exaggeration,  be  called  the  soul  of  the 
Arya  Samaj.  Though  it  has  not  fallen  to  his  lot  to 


220  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

be  a  whole-time  worker  like  Principal  Hans  Raj  of 
the  D.A.V.  College,  Lahore,  or  Mahatma  Munshi 
Ram  of  the  Gurukul  at  Hardawar,  he  has  organised 
numerous  branches  of  the  Arya  Samaj  ;  collected 
funds  for  the  college  and  general  propaganda  work  ; 
delivered  courses  of  lectures  and  generally  infused  a 
new  spirit  of  earnestness  and  social  service  among  the 
educated  young  Arya  Samaj  ists.  During  the 
famines  of  1897-1898,  and  1899-1900,  Lajpat  Rai,  at 
considerable  personal  risk  and  inconvenience,  organ- 
ised a  famine  relief  party  and  administered  relief  to 
at  least  1,700  distressed  Hindu  orphans  in  Rajputana, 
Kathiawar,  parts  of  Bombay  and  the  Central  Pro- 
provinces.  The  first  orphanage  at  Ferozepur, 
opened  under  the  auspices  of  the  Arya  Samaj, 
and  in  healthy  rivalry  to  Christian  mission  ary 
organisations,  was  established  principally  at  the 
suggestion  of  Lajpat  Rai.  Appeals  issued  on  behalf 
of  the  Hindu  Orphan  Relief  movement  were  generally 
responded  to,  by  all  sects  and  castes  of  Hindus. 
As  a  direct  sequel  to  these  philanthropic  activities, 
numerous  orphanages  were  established  in  various 
parts  of  the  Punjab,  new  industries  were  started  for 
the  benefit  of  the  famine-stricken,  and  young 
college  graduates  offered  their  services  most  gener- 
ously, bore  the  chief  burden  of  responsibility,  taking 
considerable  risks  and  accepting  no  remuneration. 
The  philanthropic  work  referred  to  was  not 
confined  to  famine  relief,  but  included  medical 
relief.  It  gained  from  the  Government  recognition  as 
an  organised  movement  with  definite  aims  and  a  high 
standard  ol  efficiency  and  success  to  its  credit. 


LALA  LAJPAT  RAI  221 

Further  it  brought  together  the  normally  divergent 
sects  and  creeds  and  threw  the  upper  classes  and  the 
poor  people  together.  Mr.  Lajpat  Rai  in  his  pub- 
lished report  of  the  Arya  Samaj's  relief  work  makes 
the  following  significant  statement :  "But  still 
more  blessed  are  those  who  paid  for  their  own  bread 
and  did  not  spend  even  a  pie  of  public  money  on 
their  own  food.  Personally,  my  gratefulness  to 
them  is  beyond  words.  They  have  earned  the  ever- 
lasting gratitude  of  their  people  by  setting  such  a 
good  and  noble  example  of  self-sacrifice  to  the  other 
members  of  the  rising  generation.  Let  us  hope  that 
these  services  are  an  earnest  of  what  may  be  expected 
of  them  in  the  future.  This  record  of  their  work  is 
a  bright  ray  in  the  sunshine  of  Hindu  revival,  to 
which  we  all  look  with  hope  and  pleasure  "  ("  Arya 
Samaj  :  an  Indian  Movement,"  p.  218). 

Even  on  his  return  from  the  now  historic  deporta- 
tion, Lajpat  Rai  did  not  relax  his  philanthropic 
efforts.  To  quote  from  Lajpat  Rai's  own  account 
of  his  work. 

"  Famine  Relief  in  1908. 

"  In  1908,  however,  the  movement  was  expanded 
and  general  relief  was  aimed  at.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  Census  Report  of  the  United 
provinces  of  Agra  and  Oude  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  extensive  scale  on  which  work  was  done  during 
the  famine  :  — 

'  The  emissary  of  a  well-known  Arya  leader  came 
round  distributing  relief  during  the  famine  of  1907-8 
an<J  visited  a  certain  village  near  which  I  had 
encamped.  After  his  visit,  the  recipients  of  his 


222  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 


bounty,  being  not  quite  sure  whether  they  were  doing 
right  in  accepting  private  chanty,  when  Government 
was  looking  after  them,  sent  a  deputation  to  ask  me 
whether  they  might  keep  his  gifts.  I,  of  course,  told 
them  to  take  all  they  could  get  ;  and  then  their 
leader  asked  me  who  was  the  man  (the  Arya  leader) 
who  was  distributing  money  in  this  wholesale  way." 
(cf.  'The  Arya  Samaj  :  an  Indian  Movement," 
by  Lajpat  Rai,  pp.  218-219). 

Since  his  deportation,  he  has  once  been  on  a 
political  mission  to  this  country  in  the  company  of 
Messrs.  Jinnah,  Bhupendra,  Nath  Busu,  the  late 
G.  K.  Gokhale  and  others. 

Mrs.  Annie  Besant  pays  him  the  following 
compliment : 

"  Lajpat  Rai  is  a  '  whole-hogger '  in  his  political 
attitude,  impatient  of  compromise  and  not  heedful 
of  questions  of  detail.  It  is  difficult  to  satisfy  him 
with  illusory  schemes  of  mere  tinkering  reforms, 
since  he  is  a  shrewd,  hard-headed  thinker,  not  easily 
carried  away  by  sentiment,  unless  it  be  love  for  the 
mother-land."  The  writer's  own  impression  about 
Lajpat  Rai's  speeches  is  that  they  breathe  out  sin- 
cerity and  the  spirit  of  self-reliance,  but  they  lack 
dignity  and  balance.  They  arouse  high  spirits 
among  friends,  but  only  bitter  animosity  in  the  hearts 
of  critics.  He  lacks  the  tact,  the  power  of  appeal  to 
the  generous  and  chivalrous  emotions  of  his  critics 
that  was  so  eminently  shown  in  Gokhale,  and  which 
won  for  the  latter  numerous  converts  even  from  the 
ranks  of  stout  opponents. 

In  spite  of  his  keen  patriotism  and  various  services 


LALA  LA'JPAT  RAI  223 

to  India,  in  the  domain  of  politics,  Lajpat  Rai  is  at 
his  best  in  the  social  and  religious  sphere.  It  has 
been  the  writer's  privilege  to  attend  several  meetings 
of  the  Arya  Samaj  when  he  would  speak  on  ethics 
and  metaphysics  of  religion.  Laj pat's  extensive 
study  of  English  philosophical  literature,  his  grasp 
of  the  fundamental  issues  and  his  able,  if  also  some- 
what ingenious  exposition  of  Vedic  texts  was  always 
a  real  intellectual  treat.  Like  his  master  Swami 
Dayananda  Saraswati  he  would  read  back  into  the 
Vedas  the  latest  discovery  of  science  and  the  latest 
exposition  of  metaphysical  doctrine.  But  this 
ought  to  surprise  no  one.  Even  in  this  country,  the 
race  of  mid- Victorian  divines  is  by  no  means  extinct, 
who  would  either  try  to  place  under  the  ban  modern 
and  progressive  movements,  or  trace  their  origins 
to  some  text  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  or  to  some  vague 
prophecy  in  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

Lajpat  Rai  has  been  a  pillar  of  strength  to  the 
Arya  Samaj.  Though  most  of  the  Samaj 's  propa- 
ganda owes  its  inception  to  the  inspiring  teachings 
and  personality  of  Dayananda,  it  is  difficult  to 
exaggerate  the  value  of  Lajpat  Rai's  co-operation 
in  maintaining  the  Samajic  activities  at  a  high 
level. 

Finally,  no  one  has  striven  more  to  induce  his 
co-religionists  as  individuals — not  as  members  of  a 
corporate  body — to  accept  the  political  ideals  as 
formulated  by  progressive  India.  He  has  always 
felt  that  though  the  Arya  Samaj,  as  resting  on 
definitely  religious  foundations,  must  always  assume 
neutrality  in  political  matters,  yet  if  individual 


224  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Arya  Samajists  refrained  from  identifying  themselves 
with  healthy,  peaceful,  political  developments,  the 
Samaj  itself  may  degenerate  into  an  obscurantist 
body.  To  quote  his  own  words  :  '  The  harder  the 
fight,  the  greater  the  opportunities  of  showing  the 
strength  which  our  forefathers  have  bequeathed  to- 
us.  These  Samaj  es,  Colleges,  Sabhas,  Leagues, 
Associations,  Congresses  and  Conferences  are  all 
means  to  an  end.  They  mark  the  various  stages  in 
our  onward  march  to  nation-hood.  .  .  .  The 
Arya  Samaj  has  to  remember  that  the  India  of 
to-day  is  not  exculsively  Hindu.  Its  prosperity  and 
future  depend  upon  the  reconciliation  of  Hinduism 
with  that  greater  "  ism  "  — Indian  nationalism — which 
alone  can  secure  for  India  its  rightful  place  in  the 
comity  of  nations.  Anything  that  may  prevent, 
or  even  hinder,  that  consummation  is  a  sin  for  which 
there  can  be  no  expiation."  ("  The  Arya  Samaj,'* 

P.  283). 


SURENDRA    NATH    BANNERJEA 

"  We  are  the  subjects  of  the  proudest  Empire  in  the  world. 
We  glory  in  that  Imperial  connection  which  makes  us  the 
participators  of  that  noble  heritage  of  freedom,  which  is  the 
birthright  of  every  Englishman.  Let  the  Russians*  come 
if  they  choose.  They  will  find  behind  the  serried  ranks  of  one 
of  the  grandest  armies  in  the  world,  the  countless  millions 
of  a  loyal  people,  united  by  contentment,  by  gratitude,  by 
willingness  for  self-sacrifice,  ready  to  guard  an  Empire  that  has 
meant  in  India,  the  establishment  of  peace,  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge,  and  which  I  trust,  will  yet  mean  the  political 
enfranchisement  of  her  vast  people." 

SURENDRA  NATH  BANNERJEA. 

*The  substitution  of  "  Germans  "  for  "  Russians  "  will  bring  this 
old  quotation  quite  up  to  date.  [The  author.] 

IT  is  the  barest  justice  to  the  Edmund  Burke  of 
Bengal, — for  that  would  be  a  very  apt  characteri- 
sation of  the  famous  political  leader  and  nation- 
builder  with  whom  we  are  now  dealing — that  very 
few  surpass  him,  even  if  some  equal  him,  in  point  of 
the  vigorous  appeal  he  directs  to  the  emotions.  The 
writer  has  had  the  privilege  of  attending  meetings 
of  the  Indian  National  Congress  and  public  gather- 
ings of  a  political  or  quasi-political  nature,  where 
Banner] ea's  powerful  and  burning  eloquence  had 
electrified  vast  audiences  and  swayed  their  feelings 
as  does  the  powerful  gust  of  wind  sway  the  blades 
of  corn  in  a  field.  But  it  must  also  be  said  to 
Bannerj ea's  credit  that  when  the  feelings  of  his 
audience  are  raised  to  a  pitch  of  intense  excitement, 


226  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

he  strikes  the  right  note  of  moderation  and  sanity, 
realising  that  the  reason  why  feelings  should  be 
purged  of  their  dross  in  the  fiery  furnace  of  idealism, 
is  that  they  should  become  a  motive  force  in  con- 
stitutional agitation.  "  Evolution  and  not  Revo- 
lution "  was  the  burden  of  his  political  counsels  to 
the  radical  and  ardent  spirits  of  young  Bengal,  when 
demands  for  the  reversal  of  the  partition  were  grow- 
ing insistent  and  even  clamorous,  and  when  Boycott 
and  Swadeshi  were  the  only  ringing  war-cries,  whose 
echoes  drowned  every  other  interest. 

Banner jea's  is  pre-eminently  a  restraining  influence 
in  the  sphere  of  Indian  politics — not  the  restraint 
whose  exercise  involves  a  surrender  of  independent 
action  or  suggests  a  playing  for  governmental  favours, 
but  that  which  tempers  idealism  with  sanity  and 
which  foresees  the  futility  of  irresponsible  action. 
He  would  always  warn  his  countrymen  of  the  dangers 
implicit  in  "  playing  with  the  fire  "  and  in  allowing 
their  imagination  to  run  away  with  itself.  But  he 
would  never  allow  the  counsels  of  restraint  to 
degenerate  into  mere  reactionary  influences  or  to 
serve  as  a  Wet  blanket  on  the  newly  awakened  enthu- 
siasm of  the  young.  His  sound  political  instincts 
tell  him  that  new-born  forces  that  make  for  freedom 
and  progress  cannot  be  suppressed,  but  should  be 
wisely  harnessed  to  well-considered  schemes  of 
reform.  His  persistent  refusal,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  inflame  the  dangerous  passions  of  an  excitable 
crowd  and  his  equally  sustained  opposition  to  the 
reactionary  attitude  shown,  from  time  to  time,  by  the 
conservative  bureaucracy  in  India,  have  in  the  past 


SURENDRA  NATH  BANNERJEA  227 

somewhat  compromised  the  position  which  he  would 
worthily  fill  under  a  liberal  regime.  His  unique 
service  consists  in  his  placing  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  agitation  against  the  partition  of  Bengal  and  in 
favour  of  encouraging  Indian  industries — which 
laudable  resolution  took  an  organised  shape  under 
the  Swadeshi  movement. 

From  his  place  in  the  Imperial  and  provincial 
Councils  he  has  always  lifted  his  voice  in  favour  of 
reforms  well-known  to  students  of  the  National 
Congress  propaganda.  Thus  whether  the  demand 
is  for  enlisting  Indian  volunteers  on  terms  of 
equality  with  Europeans,  for  the  defence  of  their 
country,  or  whether  the  request  formulated  is  for 
separating  judicial  functions  from  executive  control, 
or  whether  the  demand  be  for  the  retrenchment  of 
military  expenditure  and  the  diversion  of  revenue 
to  more  constructive  purposes,  Banner jea's  attitude 
has  been  uncompromisingly  liberal  and  consistent 
throughout  his  long  and  honourable  career.  Never 
has  he  deviated  one  iota  from  the  principles  that 
he  imbibed  in  his  earlier  years,  and  whose  appli- 
cation to  India  gave  promise,  according  to  him,  of  her 
future  greatness.  Being  at  times  extreme  in  his 
moderation  and  at  others  moderate  in  his  extrem- 
ism, he  has  somehow  missed  that  popularity  that  falls 
to  unscrupulous  fire-brands  or  those  that  see  visions 
of  governmental  patronage  after  a  short-lived 
political  activity.  But  still,  without  doubt,  he 
occupies  a  very  prominent  place  in  the  esteem  and 
affection  of  both  old  and  young  Bengal. 

Technically,  Banner jea  may  not  be  considered  a 

15a 


228  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

whole-time  worker  in  the  service  of  India.  But  if 
only  we  tried  and  penetrated  below  appearances,  we 
shall  discover  that  whether  as  proprietor  and  editor- 
in-chief  of  the  Bengalee  or  as  founder  of  the  Ripon 
College  and  now  as  its  principal,  Banner jea's  time 
and  attention  have  been  fully  occupied  in  the  pro- 
motion of  objects  that  have  profound  national 
importance.  True,  he  has  not  practised  the 
austerities  of  Gokhale,  or  Jesuit-fashion  renounced 
emoluments  and  position,  yet  efficiency  in  the 
political  sphere  may  remain  quite  unimpaired  even 
if  the  leader  does  not  submit  to  privations  or  extreme 
simplicity.  Besides,  Banner  jea's  whole  tenor  of  life 
is  and  has  been,  quite  simple  and  unostentatious: 
any  means  that  he  may  have  amassed  have  been 
by  sheer  exertion  and  conspicuous  ability,  and  quite 
apart  from  his  engagement  in  any  commercial  enter- 
prise that  has  not  a  direct  bearing  on  his  political 
propaganda.  In  the  Council  chamber  as  on  the 
public  platform,  in  his  capacity  as  editor  or  while 
playing  the  role  of  principal,  Banner  jea's  one  all- 
engrossing  passion  has  ever  been  to  engage  in  the 
service  of  the  mother-land. 

Unlike  some  other  political  enthusiasts,  included 
in  this  series,  Bannerjea  has,  from  the  beginning 
been  quite  untrammelled  by  conservative  social 
tradition  or  narrow  religious  orthodoxy.  Though 
Hindu  to  the  back-bone,  Bannerjea  has  always 
appreciated  deeply  the  beautiful  and  inspiring  teach- 
ings and  ethics  of  Christianity,  and  being  a  life-long 
member  of  that  progressive  Hindu  denomination 
called  the  Brahma  Samaj,  has  ever  insisted  on  the 


SURENDRA  NATH  BANNERJEA      229 

need  for  maintaining  a  conciliatory  attitude  towards 
other  religions.  B esides,  he  has  been  j  ust  as  unrelent- 
ing and  unintermittent  in  his  attempts  at  reforming 
the  Hindu  religion,  as  he  has  been  in  insisting  that 
the  fresh  breath  of  British  Liberalism  may  blow  on 
the  surface  of  the  stagnant  waters  of  bureaucracy. 
He  married  a  wife  of  his  own  choice,  who  fully  entered 
into  the  spirit  of  his  life-work,  and  to  whom  he  showed 
the  spontaneous  loyalty  that  springs  from  a  happy 
and  suitable  selection.  His  sense  of  public  duty 
may  be  judged  from  the  interesting  little  incident 
that  on  the  day  when  his  heart  was  filled  with  a  sense 
of  utter  bereavement  over  his  wife's  death  he  pulled 
himself  together  and  dictated  his  usual  leader  for 
The  Bengalee  newspaper.  His  general  attitude 
towards  social  reform  may  be  summed  up  in  the  brief 
excerpt  that  we  take  from  The  Bengalee  : 

"  We  have  worshipped  the  goddess  of  Sakti 
(i.e.,  energy)  for  centuries  ;  how  is  it  that  through 
those  very  centuries  we  have  remained  so  weak  and 
helpless  as  a  nation  ?  We  are  the  devout  wor- 
shippers of  '  Saras vati '  (the  goddess  of  learning), 
and  at  the  same  time  have  received  a  scant  share  of 
her  blessings.  The  priests  who  are  the  monopolists 
of  the  religious  rites  and  ministrations  are  for  the 
most  part  as  innocent  of  Vedic  knowledge  at  the 
present  day  as  the  '  Sudra  '  was  in  the  days  when 
the  gates  of  knowledge  were  shut  against  him  by  the 
iron  rules  of  caste.  We  offer  our  devotions  to 
'  Lakhshmi '  (the  goddess  of  wealth)  every  recurrent 
year  ;  and  we  remain  none  the  less  a  nation  of 
paupers. 


230  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

"  The  orthodox  Hindu  makes  a  fetish  of  certain 
rules  of  hygiene  formulated  by  his  ancestors  in  the 
dim  past ;  he  regards  it  as  sin,  for  instance,  to  take 
his  meals  without  bathing,  or  to  remain  in  unwashed 
clothes  for  more  than  a  day  ;  but  with  all  his  religious 
devotion  to  the  traditional  rules  of  cleanliness,  he 
betrays  a  strange  indifference  to  the  principles  of 
sanitation  evolved  by  modern  science.  ...  It 
requires  little  reasoning  to  convince  oneself  that 
the  extreme  conservatism  of  the  orthodox  section  of 
the  Hindu  community  .  .  .  which  looks  upon 
the  least  modification  of  existing  institutions  as  a 
profanity  and  desecration  is  necessarily  the  negation 
of  progress." 

Mr.  Bannerjea  came  into  touch  with  the  champions 
of  British  Liberalism,  during  the  formative  years  of 
undergraduate  life  in  London,  and  the  influence 
exercised  on  his  mind  by  such  illustrious  Liberals  as 
Gladstone,  Bright,  Cobden  and  others,  during  these 
impressionable  years,  has  produced  in  him  a  men- 
tality that  is  at  once  friendly  disposed  towards  the 
great  traditions  of  democracy  and  freedom  in 
England,  and  is  suspicious  of  the  secret  intrigues 
and  the  intricate  diplomatic  juggleries  practised 
by  bureaucratic  governments.  Professor  Henry 
Morley,  of  University  College,  London,  took  an 
especial  interest  in  Bannerjea  while  the  latter  was, 
in  1869,  qualifying  for  the  I.C.S.  competitive 
examination  in  London.  Banner  jea's  gratitude  for 
the  numerous  little  acts  of  kindness  shown  by 
the  professor  was  quite  enthusiastic  and  forged 
links  of  affection  for  England.  Like  the  late  Sir 


SURENDRA  NATH  BANNER JEA      231 

Pheroz  Shah  Mehta,  Gokhale  and  others,  Banner] ea 
would  seriously  read — "  devour  "  may  be  the  right 
word — best  English  masterpieces,  not  simply  to 
acquire  cultured  style,  but  also  to  imbibe  ideas  that 
burned  with  such  radiant  glow  in  the  pages  of  Burke, 
Macaulay,  Mill,  Spencer,  and  Morley,  to  mention  only 
a  few  from  among  the  Intellectuals  that  were 
Banner]  ea's  favourites.  It  is  surprising  how  much 
he  learned  from  these  men,  and  especially  what 
valuable  asistance  he  almost  subconsciously  derived 
in  the  matter  of  command  over  style  from  these 
past-masters  in  style.  English  admirers  of  Mr. 
Banner jea  almost  instinctively  liken  him  to  Burke 
and  Gladstone.  And  when  in  19 10  he  came  as  India's 
delegate  to  the  Imperial  Press  Conference,  and  later 
delivered  a  series  of  lectures  on  India,  English  literary 
critics  compared  him  to  Cicero,  Burke,  Macaulay 
and  Gladstone,  not  only  having  regard  to  his  mastery 
over  style,  but  also  his  vigour  of  thought  and  the 
high  moral  platform  which  he  always  took. 

Clearness  of  political  aim  and  the  concentration  of 
all  energy,  and  intelligence  on  the  achievement  of 
that  aim,  be  the  obstacles  ever  so  formidable,  is 
another  outstanding  strain  in  Bannerjea's  character. 
While  on  a  political  mission  to  England,  he  very 
politely  but  quite  firmly  repudiated  Lord  Morley's 
dictum  that  the  partition  of  Bengal  was  "  a  settled 
fact."  And  the  tenacity  with  which  he  held  on  to 
his  hopes  that  the  partition  would  yet  be  annulled, 
when  British  statesmanship  awoke  from  its  dogmatic 
slumbers,  called  forth  from  the  late  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead 
the  compliment  that  he  was  Mr.  "  Surrender-not 


232  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

Bannerjea."  Equally  firm  and  polite  was  he  in 
airing  his  views  on  the  Indian  situation  to  Lord 
Haldane — on  the  same  occasion  as  above — and  his 
lordship  was  quite  impressed  with  the  strength  of  his 
conviction  and  his  invincible  faith  that  things  will 
work  out  all  right  in  the  end. 

There  is  a  little  romance  connected  with  his  visit 
to  England.  It  is  said  that  his  mother  did  not 
approve  of  his  voyage  to  England,  but  Bannerjea 
seized  the  opportunity  when  Romesh  Chunder 
Dutt  and  Behari  Lai  Gupta  were  sailing  for  England, 
and  ran  away  from  home !  The  illustrious  trio 
were  an  acquisition  to  University  College,  London, 
and  showed  remarkable  powers  of  industry,  intelli- 
gence and  general  reliability  in  character.  They  soon 
competed  for  the  Civil  Service  Examination  and 
passed  with  credit,  if  not  with  distinction,  Bannerjea, 
Dutt  and  Gupta  taking  high  places.  By  a  curious 
misfortune,  which  for  India  turned  out  to  be  a  lasting 
blessing  in  disguise,  Bannerjea  was,  after  three  years 
of  service  as  Assistant  Commissioner  of  Sylhet,  asked 
to  resign  because  of  the  following  unfortunate 
incident. 

A  commission  was  appointed  to  enquire  into  cer- 
tain irregularities  alleged  to  be  done  by  Bannerjea, 
while  the  latter  was  an  Assistant  Commissioner. 
Their  report  was  adverse.  Those  were  days  when 
encroachment  on  the  sanctum  of  the  service  by 
Indians  was  zealously  guarded  against.  The  lenient 
view  entertained  by  his  brother  officers  was  that  as 
a  young  officer,  Bannerjea  was  rather  lazy  and 
careless.  But  the  stricter  interpretation  of  his  fail- 


SURENDRA  NATH  BANNERJEA      233 

ing  was  that  he  deliberately  made  wrong  entries  in 
official  documents.  In  any  case,  a  stern  rebuke  or 
suspension  of  promotion  for  a  short  period  might 
well  have  been  an  adequate  penalty.  But  officialdom 
surpassed  itself  by  demanding  the  instant  dismissal  of 
such  a  brilliant  acquisition  to  the  service,  for  his  first 
dereliction  of  duty. 

He  appealed  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India 
personally,  who  refused  to  intervene,  and  upheld  the 
decision  of  the  Indian  authorities.  Banner jea  faced 
this  great  calamity — he  was  quite  impecunious  by 
this  time — with  great  fortitude,  never  allowing  this 
unpleasant  memory  to  influence  his  views  or  com- 
promise the  friendship  he  has  always  cherished  with 
England's  great  men. 

Mr.  Bannerjea  is  a  confirmed  believer  that  per- 
manent friendship  between  England  and  India  is 
necessary  for  the  welfare  of  both,  and  hence  he  has 
never  swerved  from  his  ideal  of  political  autonomy 
within  the  Empire.  Yet  no  one  has  offered  a  more 
scathing  indictment  of  that  Neo-Imperialism  — 
represented  by  such  able  and  influential  exponents 
as  e.g.,  Lord  Curzon — which  teaches  that  Asiatic 
nations  must  sit  for  all  time  at  the  footstool  of 
European  civilisations,  and  that  Indians  must 
"  think  imperially,"  that  is  to  say,  according  to  Lord 
Curzon,  that  they  should  hug  and  kiss  their  chains  as 
if  these  were  symbols  of  distinction  and  regard  their 
captors  as  if  they  were  a  guard  of  honour. 

But  this  reactionary  policy  and  purblind  vision 
should  not,  according  to  Bannerjea  harden  the  hearts 
of  Indians  against  the  more  progressive  and  enlight- 


234  INDIA'S  NATION  BUILDERS 

ened    views    concerning    Empire    which    obtain    in 
democratic  circles  throughout  Britain. 

No  one  has  given  saner  advice  or  lent  more  power- 
ful support  to  the  cause  of  Swadeshi  in  Bengal  as 
elsewhere.  He  had  sufficient  political  sagacity  to 
see  that  the  particular  occasion  when  resentful 
feelings  against  the  partition  rose  to  fever-heat  and 
Sir  Bamfylde  Fuller's  policy  of  "  Divide  and  rule  " 
produced  very  unhappy,  if  not  tragic  consequences 
in  its  train — that  that  was  the  psychological  moment 
when  the  swollen  volume  of  political  unrest  should  be 
diverted  along  profitable  channels,  to  fertilise  many 
a  barren  field  of  action,  as  also  to  provide  legitimate 
outlets  for  energies  which  might  easily  become 
dangerous,  if  not  properly  utilised.  His  advocacy  of 
Swadeshi  disarmed  the  boycott  propaganda  carried 
on  by  the  National  Volunteers. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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